Full text of "Lands and peoples : the world in color"

See other formats

THE LIBRARY OF

YORK

UNIVERSITY

%ids and Peoples

THE WORLD IN COLOR

€ditor-in- Chief
R. Bruce Taylor, D.D., LL.D.

Principal, Queens University, Kingston

Including a Special Survey of

The League of Nations

"By

Graham Spry, B.A.

and A FOREWORD by

H. M. Tory, D.Sc, LL.D., F.R.S.C.

President, The League of Nations Society in Canada

VOLUME V

TORONTO
The Grolier Society Limited

LONDON

The Educational Book Company Limited

CorTRIGHT, 1929, BY

THE GROLIER SOCIETY

Volume V

Table of Contents

PAGE

MOROCCO AND THE MOORS— /I Glimpse of the Most Western Land of Islam

5 Pages in Full Color 4

FROM SENEGAL TO SOMALILAND—Fmwce'^ Negro Colonies in Africa

3 Pages in Full Color . . . . . . . . ig

TWIXT THE DESERT AND THE S'Ek— Algeria, Tunisia and Tripoli

8 Pages in Full Color . . . . . . . . 33

EGYPT'S WONDERS OF THE PAST— /^j Vast Temples and Palaces

11 Pages in Full Color 57

THE SPHINX AND THE PYRAMID— r^e-o Mighty Monuments of Bygone Ages

5 Pages in Full Color . . 79

THE GIFT OF THE NILE— ^ow; Men Live To-day in Fertile Egypt .. 91

THE COLOR OF CAIRO— Life and Glamor of Egypt's Historic Capital

8 Pages in Full Color . . 105

TWO INDEPENDENT BLACK NATIONS— .46 v^jmia and Liberia 131

BRITISH AFRICA FROM WEST TO EAST— Its Strangely Different Races

8 Pages in Full Color . . 141

IN THE HEART OF AFRICA— Among the Cannibals and Pigmies of the Congo . . 173

FROM CAPE TOWN TO ZAMBEZI— People of South Africa 189

MYSTERIOUS MADAGASCAR— /n^er^j^m^ Island Torn from Africa 211

THROUGH TROPIC FAIRYLANDS— r^c Malays of the Dutch East Indies

12 Pages in Full Color . . . . . . . . 224

BORNEO THE ISLE OF SUMMER— /^j Forest Folk and Head-Hunting Dayaks

4 Pages in Full Color .257

THE MEN OF THE BLOW-PIPE— i^oz^' the Bornean Savages Use This Weapon 273

ISLES OF UNREST— Among the Fierce Tribes of the Philippines

4 Pages in Full Color . . 285

SUNSHINE ISLES AND SAVAGES— r^e Untamed Life of the Southern Seas

4 Pages in Full Color . . . . . . . . . . 304

THE ISLAND CONTINENT— /n the Bush and Cities of Australia 322

AUSTRALIA'S MAGIC-MAKERS— Prifnitive Natives in the Island Continent . . 349

NEW ZEALAND OF THE SOUTH SEAS— Land of a People Who Call

Englajid Home . . . . 359

LIFE AMONG THE MAORIS— A^ew Zealand's Splendid Warrior Race . . . . 375

II yam

VEILED MOORISH BEAUTY ON THE BALCONY OF HER HOME

The ideals of Moorish art and architecture were usually expressed in mosques and palaces,
but there are also many fine examples in private homes, such as this, which few of us ever
have the opportunity to see. Notice the graceful arches, the twisted columns and particu-
larly the beautifully designed mosaic work.

Morocco and the Moors

A Glimpse of the Most Western Land of Islam

Known to the Arabs as "The Farthest West," Morocco was split up, until
comparatively recent times, into a number of pirate kingdoms, whose sea-
rovers were the dread of the merchant-shipping trading in the neighboring
waters. Though a sultan still governs the country, a large part of it is a
French protectorate, and the remainder is controlled by Spain. It is strange
to find that the proud conquerors of Spain have changed places with their
former subjects. The Spanish zone is inhabited by the warlike Rifs, who
have proved so troublesome to the Spaniards that it took the combined efforts
of Spain and France during 1925-26 to subdue them.

LESS than two hundred years ago few
travelers from the West had ever
been to North Africa, and those who
did go seldom returned to their native
shores, for many of the seaports were the
haunts of pirates and slave-traders, who
liked nothing so much as the sight of a
becalmed and heavily laden merchantman.

They were good seamen were these
Corsairs and drove their long-oared gal-
leys, rowed -by slaves of all nations, even
as far as the coasts of England, where
they would land and attack some unfor-
tunate Cornish hamlet at night, dragging
oflf the inhabitants to hopeless slavery.

The lands along the coast of North
Africa, whence these pirates came, were
then known as the Barbary States from
the original inhabitants, the Berbers who
have probably existed there since the
Stone Age. The Berbers, who are black
in color but are really members of the
white race whose skin has tanned and
darkened through exposure to countless
ages of African sun, were cut off from
conquest to the south or from inter-
mingling with the black race of Central
and South Africa by the vast Sahara
Desert, more impassable than any sea.

Walling off this ''land of the Berbers'*
still more effectively is the snow-clad
Atlas Mountain range, divided into the
Great, Middle and Little Atlas, which
stretches along the edge of the Sahara
from Morocco in the west to Tunisia in
the east. It was the sight of their great
heights, lost in the clouds, that caused the
Greek sailors to say that here Atlas was
holding the world on his shoulders and
the name has remained to this day.

The fertile, coastal strip was easily ac-
cessible, however, from the Mediterra-
nean which washed its shores on the north
and brought traders and conquerers alike.
The Phoenicians and the Greeks came ; the
Romans established colonies ; there were
invasions of the Vandals, but the Ber-
bers seemed little affected by the contact
with other peoples.

In the seventh century came the Arabs
enforcing Mohammedanism as they con-
quered even into the most inaccessible
region, "The Farthest West," which came
to be known as Morocco, and its inhabi-
tants Moors, though this name only right-
fully belongs to those who have Arab and
Berber blood in their veins. The Moors
became great conquerors. Their great
military period was in the eighth century,
when they sailed across the Strait of
Gibraltar and seized upon the southern
half of Spain. There, in Andalusia, they
flourished for centuries. They built pal-
aces and mosques that have never been
surpassed for delicate refinement of detail.

Their monument in Spain is that gem
of Moorish architecture, the Alhambra,
the red palace of the sultans that still
stands with its fountains and courtyards
intact. Moorish philosophers and chem-
ists kept alight the lamp of learning when
Europe had sunk into savagery.

There seemed to be something lacking
in the Moorish character. Having gone
so far, they sat down to rest, to depend
upon slave labor and to quote from the
Koran, the bible of the Moslem world,
instead of thinking for themselves.

This instability of character is reflected
in the country itself. During the few

STORKS' NESTS UPON THE HOUSETOPS IN THE PORT OF RABAT

Storks are considered to be sacred birds by the Moroccans, and are allowed to build their
nests upon the roofs of the houses. Rabat, which these storks have chosen for their home,
is a fortified port on the Atlantic coast and is famous for its manufactures of beautiful
carpets and rugs, mats, cloth, pottery and excellent morocco leather.

weeks of spring, the land is a paradise of
wild flowers and birds, but by July most
of Morocco is once more a scorched and
barren waste.

Though the Moor has stood still for
centuries, his country is now beginning
to move forward again. The French,
who are the real masters of Morocco, are
largely the cause of this. They are mak-
ing roads, constructing railways, planting
millions of olive trees and digging wells.
We can best see the work of the French

at Casablanca, which they first occupied
in 1907. Here the old and the new rub
shoulders. Camels and motor cars, Moors
and French officers mix together in the
wide streets and before the great hotels.
Over the new white and yellow houses
shines the fierce African sun, and behind
is the tumbling Atlantic where the new
harbor grows apace.

Casal)lanca is the new ^Morocco; ]\lar-
rakesh may be taken as an example of
the old. It is an inland city built in a

MOROCCO AND THE MOORS

large oasis of palms, and behind it loom
the great snow-clad peaks of the vast
Atlas regions — the mountainous backbone
of Morocco. The French military road
to Marrakesh runs across desert where
nothing grows and where the heat is in-
tense. An occasional motor car flies past
strings of laden camels which grimace as
if in disgust.

The ancient rose-red walls of Marra-
kesh are seven miles round ; from their
ten gateways once marched the armies

that carried fire and sword into Spain.
Though a garage here and there shows
the growth of European ideas of trans-
port, the town is much the same as it was
centuries ago.

In the streets, gray-eyed Berbers, in
their cloaks of woven goats' hair, woolly-
haired men from the Sudan, Negro slaves,
Jews and wild-looking nomad Arabs
jostle together, for Marrakesh is a great
centre of the trading caravans, and here
may be heard a hundred strange Ian-

/ r

BATTERED WALLS ENCIRCLING THE TOWN OF MARRAKESH

Marrakesh, or Morocco City as it is generally named by Europeans, contains many old and
dilapidated buildings, enclosed by red walls that are slowly crumbling. The city is situated
in a plain at the foot of the Atlas mountains, and about it are gardens and groves of date-
palms. Morocco, the southern capital, has changed but Httle since the arrival of the French.

MOROCCO AND THE MOORS

guages. Camels and mules press through
the crowds of gaping sightseers, mer-
chants and beggars. Snake-charmers play
on wooden flutes and allow their reptiles
to bite their hands. As the serpents'
poison glands have been removed, this is
not so dangerous as it looks. Cake-sellers
and venders of water and fruit cry their
wares, and Negro jugglers and acrobats
do their utmost to attract the people.

Cities That Are Truly Eastern

Here, as a living reproach to the mem-
ory of some bygone governor, stands an
old Negro whose eyes have been put out
for theft. He pleads monotonously for
alms and he does not go unrewarded. The
crowd is a mass of color, and the gaudy
cloaks and scarves, yellow silks, silver
girdles and gay turbans are dazzling to
eyes that are accustomed only to the more
sombrely dressed crowds in our country.

Marrakesh, once the capital of the old
Moorish empire which included Spain,
Tunis and the Sudan, is now only a
shadow of its old self, but the Moors do
not regret the departure of its glory.
Under the shadow of its crumbling pal-
aces and mosques, they quote their old
proverb : "When a thing becomes per-
fect it soon fades." ''What is to be will
be," say the Moors and leave the mag-
nificent, old buildings to decay, or to be
restored by the French.

Fez, the capital, holds much of the old
glory of Morocco. Here there are still
holy men and story-tellers, mosques and
shrines which no infidel may enter. The
walls and ramparts are immense, and the
town itself is a gigantic maze of minarets,
green tiled roofs and great Saracenic
archways that may lead to a hovel or a
palace.

A Glimpse of a Moorish Palace

Bou Jeloud is one such palace hidden
away and seemingly forgotten. Its court-
yards are set with Moorish fountains, and
there are gardens within its walls where
fig trees, roses and enormous masses of
geraniums bloom in a setting of fairy-
like, Moorish architecture, with its wealth
of colored tiles and carved cedar wood

and its elaborate geometrical designs in
plaster and stone.

The Moors are very superstitious.
Some years ago a half-witted man in Fez
used to remain in prayer for weeks at a
time. This, added to his madness, which,
in the East, is always taken as a sign of
holiness, caused him to be regarded as
a saint. He was thought too holy to be
seen by common people, and a shrine was
built for him wherein candles are kept
burning night and day.

Though most people think of the Moors
as one people, they are really composed
of several distinct races. First, we have
the true Arab, the descendant of the fierce
Mohammedans from Arabia who con-
quered North Africa centuries ago. He
inhabits the plains and the great towns.
The Berber who lives in the hills and is
sometimes gray-eyed and fair in coloring
is the original inhabitant of the country.
The Rifs who have fought so long
against Spain and France are of this
race. Negroes there are in plenty.

In all the coastal towns there are many
Jews. They are the descendants of those
who fled to escape the Spanish persecu-
tions, or rather, to exchange one set of
]:)ersecutors for another, for before the
French occupation, the Moors treated the
Jews very cruelly. Jews were fined heav-
ily, were forbidden to ride horses — the
horse was held to be too noble an animal
to be ridden by a Jew — and were often
attacked in the open street by the mob.
Every big Moorish town has its Mellah,
or Jewish quarter, where the Jews were
forced to live by themselves.

In Spanish Morocco

Besides the part of Morocco that is
under the rule of the French, and the
Tangier Zone, which has been interna-
tionalized, there is also Spanish Morocco.
This is a much smaller protectorate, moun-
tainous and sparsely settled by several
tribes of Berbers. They are pastoral
people, that is to say, they depend chiefly
on their cattle, sheep and goats for food
and clothing.

This mountainous district, which is
north of the Atlas region, is known as

©E. N. fl.

MOORISH WOMEN of the higher classes, as in other Mohammedan countries, are kept
in strict seclusion. They are not allowed to leave their homes unless their faces are
veiled and unless they cover themselves with a cloak that reaches almost to the ground. The
houses are built with flat roofs where the women may sit and chat in the cool of the evening.

MOORISH MEN AND WOMEN as a rule are cultured and intelligent, qualities that
are only natural in the members of a race that has created one of the most beautiful styles
of architecture. In the privacy of their homes, the women wear clothes of bright silks and
brocades and much jewelry. The men usually envelop themselves in a voluminous garmeni.

GRAVE AND DIGNIFIED are these two Moors who seem outwardly quite content with
their lot, but inwardly disapprove strongly of the changes that are taking place in
their country. Under the firm control of the French, brigandage and tribal wars can no longer
be carried on, so the Moor, a warrior first and foremost, is kept from that form of enjoyment.

STREET IN MEQUINEZ, ONE OF THE FINEST CITIES IN MOROCCO

Fez, Morocco City and Mequinez became known as the three capitals of the country, because
the sultan and his court used to move from one to another. Mequinez is about 36 miles
from Fez, and is surrounded by olive plantations. The shops, as we can see here, are not
unlike large holes in a wall, with the upper portions of the shutters serving as awnings.

the Rif, and the inhabitants are great
fighters. Physically these Rifs, or Riffis,
are a much finer race than the true Moors,
and many of them are red-haired and
gray-eyed. To account for this, some
learned men say that the Rifs are de-
scended from Scandinavians who landed
in Africa in the tv^elfth century.

There may be some truth in this theory
of a common ancestry with our own race,
for the Rifs, though fierce, have not the
Oriental ferocity of the other Moors, but
are warlike in a genial, hearty way, like
the old German robber barons, or the
early Saxons.

It is not surprising that these fighting
races resented the Spanish occupation of
their lands, and, at various times revolts
started among certain tribes. An inde-
cisive guerrilla warfare was carried on till
1921, when the Rifs captured 20,000
Spanish troops with all their artillery,
transport and ammunition. This is known
in history as the MeHUa disaster.

Abd-el-Krim, the leader of the Rifs,
reorganized his army on modern lines,
and now attacked the Spaniards vigor-
ously. For a time he was successful, and

the courage of the Rifs and the fanatical
bravery of their allies (who regarded the
campaign as a Jehad or Holy War)
prevailed against the armies of Spain.
Nevertheless, Spain, unwilling to lose the
last vestige of her empire, refused to
withdraw from the struggle.

Unfortunately for Abd-el-Krim, some
of his allies made raids into the French
protectorate. With Spain he could deal,
but to challenge the greatest military
power in Europe was quite another thing.
From the day France entered the war,
Rif independence was doomed. Aero-
planes, tanks and heavy artillery proved
too much for the tribesmen, and after a
long and desperate war with the two Eu-
ropean powers, Abd-el-Krim surrendered
to the French in 1926.

There has not been nearly so much
trouble in French Morocco. The French
rule benevolently and with firmness. Also
they understand the Moor. When the
great market place in Fez was destroyed
by fire, Marshal Lyautey, the Resident-
General, caused a replica to be built, with
all the shrines of Moslem saints just as
they had been before the conflagration.

THE CARPENTER'S FOUNTAIN in Fez shows the architectural skill of the old Moors,
a skill their descendants do not seem to possess. The city gave its name "fez" to a certain
kind of cap, which was originally made there and which is worn in most Mohammedan coun-
tries. Fez, the northern capital of Morocco, is divided into two portions by the River Pearl.

FEZ, A HOLY CITY of Islam, contains the shrine that we see here. It is that of Mulai
Edris II, the founder of the city, and no infidel may set foot therein. Within the city walls
are mosques and palaces and gardens, and the university, though formerly much larger,
is famous as a centre for the study of the Mohammedan rehgion and law.

MOROCCO AND THE MOORS

Like the Romans who once occupied
these regions, the French regard the roads
as the greatest civiHzing influences. Roads
mean communication, and communication
means the exchange of ideas, the growth
of commerce and security. When the
roads were being constructed in 1916, the
Moors would descend at night and de-
stroy them, killing the unfortunate work-
men. Doubtless they realized that these
military roads were to be the unbreak-
able chains of French dominance in
Morocco, but their efforts to stop the
work were quite useless. The guards

were doubled, and the work proceeded.

Saleh, Rabat, Marrakesh and, indeed,
all the big towns are linked up by excel-
lent systems of roads, and there are hun-
dreds of miles of railways stretching
their length across the desert sands.

Under the French, Morocco is chang-
ing fast, save only in those lesser-known
Atlas regions where the great Berber feu-
dal lords still keep their courts as of old,
and soon the Moor will no longer be con-
tent to dream of his past among the faded
splendor of ruined palaces and the tombs
of departed sultans.

MOROCCO: FAC\

THE COUNTRY

Lies on the northwest coast of Africa;
bounded on the north by the Mediterranean,
on the east by Algeria, on the south (indefi-
nitely) by the Sahara and on the west by the
Atlantic. The district of Tangier (area 225
square miles; population about 80,000) is inter-
nationalized ; the northern zone is a Spanish
protectorate (area 18,300 square miles; popu-
lation about 1,000,000) ; the remainder a
French protectorate (area 200,000 square miles;
population 4,229,146). Along the Atlantic
Coast, southwest of Morocco are the Spanish
African colonies of Rio de Oro and Adrar
(area 109,200 square miles; population 495)
under the government of the Canary Islands;
and Ifni (area 965; population 20,000).

GOVERNMENT

The French Zone is a French protectorate,
dating from April, 1912. The sultan is re-
ligious primate and chief-of-state under advice
of the French Resident-General. Administra-
tion in the hands of the French and a native
organization. Local administration is in the
hands of native pashas and French controllers.
The Spanish Zone is under the control of the
Spanish High Commissioner and a Calipha
who is chosen by the sultan from 2 candidates
named by the Spanish government. Tangier
has by statute of 1923 become permanently
neutralized and demilitarized. It has an au-
tonomous government; legislative power is
vested in an assembly of 27 members. A
Consular Committee of Control has right of
veto. Administration under an administrator
with assistants for health, finance, etc. A
representative of the sultan deals with native
affairs.

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

French Zone — Agriculture is the most im-
portant industry, but is carried on by natives
using primitive methods. Principal crops are
cereals, beans, chickpeas, canary seed, olives,
vines, fruits and almonds ; considerable forests
of cord, cedar, arar, argan and oak. Gums are

: AND FIGURES

produced. Phosphate is the principal mineral.
Fishing and livestock-raising are important.
Miscellaneous industries include flour mills,
breweries, soap, candle factories, cement fac-
tories. The exports are phosphates, wheat, eggs,
wool and almonds. Imports are sugar, cotton
textiles, mineral oil and petrol, tea, beverages,
automobiles and machinery.

Spanish Zone — Agriculture of most primitive
fashion is the chief industry; iron ore is
mined ; tunny fishing is important. Exports
are eggs, livestock, iron ore and agricultural
products ; imports are wines, textiles, tea,
sugar and candles.

Tangier Zone — Most important industries
are cigarette-making and fishing. Exports are
skins, eggs and tinned fish ; imports are flour,
sugar, candles, fabrics, tobacco, coffee and tea.

COMMUNICATIONS

There are about 1,080 miles of railway in
French territory and about 90 miles in Spanish.
Good roads are being constructed in French
territory. Daily aeroplane service. Length of
telegraph lines in French Zone is 1,470 miles:
important centres in Spanish Zone are con-
nected. Wireless stations in French Zone.
There is telephone service in all zones.

RELIGION AND EDUCATION

Natives Sunni Mohammedans of the Male-
kite School ; most of population illiterate. The
Koranic schools attached to mosques give ele-
mentary education, and a few give secondary
education. There are 2 Moslem colleges at Fez
and Rabat. The French maintain primary and
secondary schools conducted along European
lines. Spanish Zone has state schools and
schools for natives.

CHIEF TOWNS

French Zone — Marrakesh, population, 149,-
263; Casablanca, 106,608; Fez, 81,172; Rabat.
38,044; Meknes, 29,930; Saffi, 26,914; Sale,
20,965.

Spanish Zo«i'— Tetuan, 24,000; Larache, 15.-
500; Alcazar, 12,750.

From Senegal to Somaliiand

France's Negro Colonies in Africa

France's Arab and Moorish peoples in Africa are treated in other articles, as
are Madagascar, Reunion and Alayotte. This article deals chiefly with those
French colonies where the population is predominantly Negro and includes
a fringe of small coast holdings reaching into the interior, which varies from
the aridity of the world's greatest desert to the dense forests of an equatorial
belt where the rainfall is excessive and the heat and disease-bearing insects
make it unhealthful for white men whose official duties compel them to visit
these regions. The Belgian Congo is discussed in the article In the Heart of
Africa. French Sudan, which lies between French Congo and the Sahara,
comprises Senegal. French Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Dahomey and several
military territories ; and French Somaliiand lies straight across on the east
coast. Since we have millions of square miles to cover in a short space, we
will make the mental journey by aeroplane; for air routes are fast being
established in French (as well as British) Africa, with air bases at points
where a landing is feasible.

AFRICA has been the scene of the
most extensive French overseas ex-
pansion, which began as early as
1365 when the Norman sea-faring folk
of Dieppe explored the west coast of the
dark continent, establishing trading sta-
tions in Senegal and
Guinea. These ex-
peditions were not
backed by national
support, although
they enriched a dozen
ship-owners and these
practically founded
the French mercan-
tile marine. For a
period the foothold
in Senegal was lost,
but had been re-
covered by 1637,
and the nineteenth
century saw con-
siderable further
expansion. Finally,
after the World
War, France made
some gains where
Germany had lost.
Other articles deal
with the Arab and
Moorish peoples of
French North Af-
rica, which, sepa-
rated by desert and
mountains, is Medi-

A DAUGHTER OF AFRICA

The elaborate headdresses of the women of
the proud Fulah race in French Sudan prove
them to be as ardent devotees of fashion as
their cultured white sisters.

terranean rather than African in its"
geography. Another article treats of
Madagascar, with Mayotte and Reunion
islands oit its coast. This one will in-
clude French Somaliiand on the east
coast, the Sahara (mentioned in another

volume as one of the

world's great waste
lands), and in par-
ticular, French West
Africa. This since
1 92 1 has included
not only Senegal but
a fringe of small
colonies around the
Atlantic coast —
French Guinea and
the Ivory Coast (two
long strips reaching
into French Sudan),
Togo and Dahomey,
(squaring ofif a cor-
ner of the Military
Territory of Niger),
Upper Senegal-
Niger — which con-
stitutes French Su*
dan ; Upper Volta,
just inland from the
(British) Gold Coast,
and Mauritania,
north of Senegal.

There is also French
Equatorial Africa,
until 1 910 known as

FROM SENEGAL TO SOMALILAND

French Congo, a country not unlike the
Belgian Congo described in In the Heart
of Africa. The narrow strip known as
French Cameroon is held under a man-
date of the League of Nations. In gen-
eral this vast region, shown white on the
map that follows, is an area too hot for
white men. Either it presents the rock-
strewn aridity of much of the Sahara,
or the excessive wetness of the dense,
vine-strangled forests to the south.
There are but few hill regions so nu-
merous in British Africa ; yet it is popu-
lated, in places densely, by black tribes
whose heavily pigmented skins protect
them from the sun's ferocity.

If we are to get a bird's-eye view of a
great continent on which railways are still
a novelty, harbors few and waterways
not too accommodating, we will make
our imaginary exploration by aeroplane.
As recent birdmen have discovered, the
air routes are sufficiently hazardous to
keep our hearts in our throats ; for at
noon above the desert, spouts of hot air,
tawny with dust, may rise and only the
higher altitudes are safe from the bumps
and down-drafts they cause.

Dangers of Air Travel

Over Central Africa we must be on
the lookout to outrace the terrific thun-
derstorms that come sweeping across the
sky, while beneath us lie forests so dense
that, when airports are made, it is neces-
sary to fell and uproot the great trees
by the hundreds. To pass eastward to
the shores of the Indian Ocean we must
cross above two great Rift Valleys,
cracks in the land mass filled with lakes
and waterways from Lake Nyasa to the
Nile and to the Red Sea. There are
massive highlands through East and
South Africa, and high country across
Cameroon and Northern Nigeria, but
the Congo Basin lies in a great depres-
sion and the Sahara is in places (where
it was once inundated) actually below
sea level. Yet even this vast desert has
the Ahaggar (Hoggar) Mountains, rising
south of Algeria to as much as eight thou-
sand feet and extending into the naked
Tibesti or Tu Highlands, which in past

ages formed a bridge across the sands
and stony wastes by which animals mi-
grated from north to south. West Africa,
however, has few mountains, though the
Futa Jallon form the watershed of the
Niger, the Senegal, the Gambia and other
important rivers, and the Bauchi plateau,
Africa's great tin area, rises in Northern
Nigeria and Cameroon. The climate, so
near the equator, varies rather in the
amount of rainfall and the sharp change
from noon to night rather than by
seasons.

Oases and Camel Caravans

If we have flown from, say, Morocco
across the Sahara, our first surprise will
be to find, amid the stony red expanses
and the white seas of sand dunes, occa-
sional oases, green with date-palms, and
inhabited by villagers, who oflfer succor
to camel caravans en route to Timbuctoo
and elsewhere. The oases are strung along
the depressions where water rises to the
surface, and these determine the great
trade routes. The French have shown
great zeal in digging wells and placing
such favored spots under cultivation. In-
deed, French engineers plan extensive
reclamation of the waste lands. France
holds about three-fifths of the Sahara,
much of which is still unexplored. That
it has been in the main waterless for cen-
turies is evident from the Arab name
''Sahira," which itself means desert. Yet
ancient dry watercourses indicate that the
region may not always have been so deso-
late as it is to-day. While the major por-
tion of the French Sahara is rocky, in the
western part there is sand which often
piles up into dunes a thousand feet high ;
and when the swift hot winds come sweep-
ing along, they carry this sand in clouds,
burying the thorny dwarf plants — until
another sandstorm shall uncover them —
and stifling men and caravan animals.

Timbuctoo of Desperate Deeds

In the southern part of this desert not
far from the Niger lies Timbuctoo (Tim-
Iniktu), a Negro town of mud walls and
dwellings which has ever been, and still
is, an important trade centre of the cara-

FRENCH LANDS AND PEOPLES IN AFRICA

van routes from Morocco, Guinea and
elsewhere. To-day it can also be reached
by motor car routes and the French are
extending a rail service to connect this
point with other commercial centres. The
Negroes of Western Africa, be it men-
tioned, are a different stock from the
Bantu peoples south of Cameroon, though
both are primitive.

In the eleventh century the Tuaregs, a
nomadic people of Berber origin, occupied
Timbuctoo, and left a long record behind
them of oppression and slavery, robbery
and desperate deeds. Now there lived
along the Upper Niger a Sultan Samory,
a slave-raider who had formed a brigand
empire and sold probably a million and
a half Negro captives to the Tuaregs in
exchange for gold, ivory and cattle.
These Negro slaves were called black
ivory, and as the region abounded in the
big-eared African elephants, there was
much slaughtering of these beasts for
their tusks of white ivory, and proces-
sions of naked slaves used to be sent to
market carrying these tusks upon their
shoulders. In 1880 a French captain of
marines, Joseph Simon Gallieni (the
same who distinguished himself in the
World War), was captured by Sultan

Samory and held prisoner until another
French force had overcome the many fe-
rocious small tribes of mixed Berber and
Negro stock and imposed peace on the
region, rescuing Timbuctoo from the rule
of the Saharan Berbers. But by 1888
Gallieni had broken into Western Sudan
and defeated Sultan Samory, who was,
however, not captured until 1898. Al-
though Timbuctoo is ranked as a Suda-
nese town, it has been, since 1923, a
civilian territory.

Now let us view the parched and stony
(and in part mountainous) wastes of the
French Sudan. Circling above it, we see
to the eastward a shallow great expanse
gleaming like a steel mirror in a green
frame. That is Lake Chad, which dur-
ing the rainy season may spread to twenty
thousand square miles in area, although
during the dry season it shrinks to half
that. Yet practically nowhere is it ever
more than fifteen feet deep. The silver
loops of two-thirds of the Niger River
and all of the Upper Senegal lead our
eye westward. These rivers grow with
the rains of July to October until the
Niger can accommodate small steamboats,
though for five months or more it is too
shallow. The lesser streams dry up, and

DATE PALMS are the chief trees of the Saharan oases, and they provide the staple food
of the desert tribes. Sometimes an oasis is merely a grove of palms around a well; some-
times, when the water is suppHed by a stream, it is larger and more luxuriant and fruit
and grain may be grown. An oasis may include a permanent village or even a small town.

FROM SENEGAL TO SOMALILAND

their beds heccme overgrown with shrubs
that grow Hke wildfire in that equatorial
cHmate. The name Sudan Hterally means
Land of the Blacks. French and Anglo-
Egyptian Sudan together were for long
a conquest of Turkey, which ruled it
despotically through Egypt.

To turn southward for a short inspec-
tion, French merchants settled by the
(labun River above the Congo as early
as 1839, and after the opening of the
1 Belgian Congo, as described in the ar-
ticle In the Heart of Africa, the French
secured a part of the Congo basin. Here
it was that Du Chaillu discovered the
gorilla. This and other parts of French
Africa are amazingly rich in wild game
— herds of elephants, with tusks heavy
enough to employ four porters each, herds
of vicious buffaloes, droves of vividly
striped zebras, thick-skinned rhinoceri
and clumsy hippopotami along the water-
ways, many varieties of the monkey tribe
in the forests, herds of ostriches in the
southern Sahara, to say nothing of the
bright-striped zebras of the grasslands,
lions, leopards, antelopes, giraffes and
crocodiles.

Wild Berbers Tamed

Now if we are to continue our journey
in logical order, we will fly from Tim-
buctoo across to the west coast of the
Sahara, to Mauritania, which became a
French protectorate in 1903, and a colony
in 192 1. Here live numbers of Moorish
Mussulmans of Berber origin whose men-
folk wear veils over their mouths and
noses to protect them from the sand.
Though caravans once feared their name,
such has been French influence under a
colonial policy that makes them look upon
the French flag as their own that these
famous fighters came forward in large
numbers during the World War to fight
for the mother country — irony of fate,
since it was Bismarck who had induced
the French explorer, Jules Ferry, to go
empire-building in Africa!

Proceeding southward along the coast
to Senegal, we will find a new air-base
there, in the colony from which Ferry
started to the Upper Niger when he

claimed this valuable territory for the
French. Senegal is a region of sandy
soil where the natives eat ground-nuts
and cultivate corn, rice and millet, weave,
and make pottery, as well as heavy jew-
elry of pure silver and gold, ivory and
amber. There is a river service, during
the rainy season, down the Senegal to th^
port of Dakar, one of the chief entries
to French Sudan. This serves an in-
dustry based on the salt of certain desert
areas of the interior.

The Several Guinea Lands

Senegal is really the first of a series
of coastal approaches (by means of
either rivers or railroads) to the interior
plateaus which are often called the Guinea
Lands. Some of these belong to other
European nations than the French: all
have much the same character, whether
in French Guinea, so-called, the Ivory
Coast, Dahomey, the Military Territory
of Niger or Cameroon. We find a flat
country frequently separated from the
ocean by sand-spit and marsh and in-
fested by myriads of malaria-bearing
mosquitoes and tsetse-flies which cause
sleeping-sickness. The products are
similar in all of these little colonies —
bananas, pineapples, rubber trees, cattle
around the hills of Futa Jallon, gold on
the River Timkesso, and a vastly promis-
ing potentiality for raising cotton. The
natives are shiny black and kinky-haired,
fond of music and dancing and not too
inclined to tax their energies in work
(luring the long hours of heat.

Many Enormous Swamps

All the way from the mouth of the
Senegal to the mouth of the Congo, a
region visited by heavy rains (at one
place 390 inches in one year), there are
large rivers rising in the hills and empty-
ing into the Atlantic : and while these are
at times broken by rapids, they are high-
ways for native craft and small launches.
But the coast is also characterized by
mangrove swamps, and off the Bay of
Biafra in the Gulf of Guinea is a colossal
swamp into which more than twenty
rivers discharge their silt. Here the oil-

• I

McCaiin

SHAPELESS MASS OF CLAY TAKING FORM BENEATH UEFT FINGERS

The natives are all clever at pottery work. This woman uses no machiner\'. She employs
only the crude stone mold that we can see by the three bowls. The mold is placed inside
the roughly shaped piece of clay to help the worker in smoothing and forming the vessels.
It is extraordinary how little the finished articles differ in shape and size.

^ o

u 00

<-l-H

o
z
o

u
z

(J.

E
H

b
O

(/)

H
Z

ft:

Q
Z
D

n:^

9J t/2

s s i

O X

(/J r=:

o £

t/3 t/i

t/2

«j be
i= ^ ^

h t« c
t« a. p

>,<

rt »-.

cd o O

crT S u ^

FROM SENEGAL TO SOMALILAND

])alm flourishes, the coconut, pahn. bam-
boo and rubber-bearing plants provide
material for export, the extensive culti-
vation of cotton is a dream of the future.
The forests are valuable for their ma-
hogany, - cedar, ebony and other rare
trees, although these are usually linked
together by lianas and difficult to lumber.

The Ivory Coast has two great lagoons
connected with one another by a canal,
Grand Lahou and the port of Grand Bas-
sam, with a lagoon over one hundred
miles long and twelve feet dee]), with jet-
ties built to avoid the sand-bar at the
harbor entrance. This opens up a re-
gion of pineapple and cocoa plantations
and wild inland mahngany forests.

Dahomey reaches inland from i)rimeval

forest across the great Lama swamp ( now
crossed by rails) to the rich grasslands or
savannahs, interspersed by fresh- water
swamp forests, where the huts are made
of grass, and palm oil is extracted for
market. On an inland plateau stands
Abomey, the scene of the notorious ''Cus-
toms'' when, annually, scores of human
victims were sacrificed to the ancestral
spirits, that they might serve them in the
beyond. The dominant people here are
the polygamous Ffon (Fons, Jejs or
Jefe), Negroes of the Ewe family, an ofif-
shoot of the Bantus. ranging from chest-
nut to a yellowish tinge and possessed of
unusual keenness as traders. The lagoon
port of Whydah (Hwedah), since an-
nexed by France, was originally Portu-

J. R. Birtwistlc

ART SERVES RELIGION: DAHOMIAN SCULPTOR CARVING A FETISH

Fetishism is not idolatry, but a belief that the services of a spirit may be appropriated
by possessing its material embodiment, and a fetish thus is a useful spirit in its proper
shrine. This devout Dahomian is making a clay image for presentation to his fetish
priest, using the beak of a slain fowl to carve the features.

INDUSTRY FETTERED BY IGNORANCE: NATIVES MAKING PALM OIL

Palm oil is the principal industry of Dahomey; the oil-palm grows wild and is also cultivated.
The natives crack the nuts by hand to obtain the kernels — a slow process which is beinp
replaced by mechanical crackers — and their primitive method prevents them from getting
more than about seventy per cent of the possible yield.

RUE NATIONALS IN RUFISQUE, ONE OF SENEGAL'S CHIEF PORTS

The colony and protectorate of Senegal is the oldest African colonial possession of France.
It lies south of the Senegal River in a hot and unhealthful zone and its chief towns. St. Louis,
Dakar and Rufisque, are all on the coast. Ground-nuts are exported mainly from Rufisque,
which has special accommodation for handling them.

Fortier

BLACK JUSTICE MOVES WITH MEASURED TREAD IN SENEGAL

In the chief town of every province of French West Africa there is a native court of justice
composed of the chief of the province with two of the notables to assist him. These native
judges conduct their sessions with leisurely solemnity, and there is a patriarchal atmosphere
about their courts, which frequently sit in the open air.

DESERT DIGNITY ARRIVES ON CAMELS AT TIMBUCTOO

Pastoral nomads of the Sahara, the Tuaregs, are Islamized people of Berber stock, with good
qualities and distinctive institutions. Many are excellent craftsmen in metal and leather
work, hand pottery and weaving. This photograph shows petty Tuareg chiefs arriving at
Timbuctoo to have a palaver with the French authorities.

FROM SENEGAL TO SOMALILAND

guese, and Portuguese names are borne
by many of the natives. Here the French
built the first fort in 167 1, at a time when
the kings of Hwedah derived vast riches
from the dues levied on the export of
slaves and ivory. In 1777 Whydah was
conquered by the king of Dahomey be-
cause the Whydahs, who were fetish wor-
shipers, had placed nothing but their
great fetish Dahn, a carved serpent, to
guard a strategic ford, and it happened
that the Dahomey leader feared only his
own fetish, a panther. His king, Agaja

Dosu, has been called a Tamerlane in
miniature. Dahomey's neighbor, Togo,
rising to hills between three and four
thousand feet in altitude, smelts iron as
well as cultivates large plantations.

French Somaliland, finally, directly
eastward of the Anglo-Egyptian portion
of the Sudan, has hardly enough inhabi-
tants all told to make a city, though they
are a cosmopolitan assortment — Suda-
nese, Somali, Arabs, Abyssinians, Indians,
Jews and others. There are salt mines,
coast fisheries and some trade.

FRENCH AFRICA: FACTS AND FIGURES

FRENCH SOMALILAND

Small colony lying between the Italian
Colony of Eritrea and British Somaliland on
the east coast. Total area, about 5,790 square
miles; population estimate (1928), 85,778. Ad-
ministered by a Governor assisted by an Ad-
ministrative Council. Fishing and trading im-
portant. Chief exports : coffee, ivory, hides and
skins. Seat of government, Jibuti (Djibouti) ;
population (1928), 9,414-

FRENCH WEST AFRICA

A Governor-General, assisted by a Council,
directs and controls the interests of all the
colonies in French West Africa; each colony
directly administered by a Lieutenant-Gover-
nor, the Circle of Dakar and Dependencies
under a Governor of Colonies. There were
698 schools of all kinds in 1927-28 with 43,955
pupils. The seat of the general government is
at Dakar (Senegal), population (1926), 33,697.
The colonies are :

Senegal. Total area, 74,112 square miles;
population in I92(). about 1,3 18,2.^7. Repre-
sented in French Parliament by a deputy.
Agriculture and stock-raising important occu-
pations. Chief ex])orts are ground-nuts, hides
and skins, rubber and gums. Railway mileage,
600; length of telegraph line, 4.860 miles; tele-
phone line, 408 miles. Interior communication
by river. Popul: tion of chief towns in 1926:
St. Louis (capital), 19,746: Dakar, 33,697;
Rufisque, 8,953.

French Guinea. Total area, about 92,640
square miles; population in 1928, 2,185.697.
Agriculture and stock-raising important occu-
pations. Chief exports : palm products, rubber,
ground-nuts, hides, cattle, bananas and animal
wax. Railway mileage, 412; length of tele-
graph line, 2.220 miles ; telephone. 410 miles.
Capital, Konakry. Adjacent to French Guinea
is Portuguese Guinea w.th a total area of
22,000 square miles and a population of 350,000,
estimated. Bolamo is the capital.

Ivory Coast. Total area, about 121,976
square miles; population, 1,724,545. Agricul-
ture important; coconuts and rubber are col-
lected, and the mahogany forests worked.

Chief exports : cabinet woods, rubber, cacao,
palm products and cotton. Railway mileage,
304; length of telegraph line, 2,166 miles; tele-
phone, 134 miles. Chief towns : Bingerville
(capital). Grand Bassam, Abidjan, Grand
Lahou, Sassandra and Tahou.

Dahomey. Total area, about 62,772 square
miles; population in 1927, 1,057,260. Corn,
manioc, yams and potatoes are cultivated.
Chief exports: palm kernels and oil and cot-
ton. 495 miles of first-class road ; 248 miles
of railways ; 2,045 miles of telegraph line and
560 miles of telephone line. The seat of gov-
ernment, Porto Novo, has a population of
27,000.

French Sudan. Total area, 360,331 square
miles; population (1927), 2,632,618. Agricul-
ture and stock-raising important. Chief ex-
ports : ground-nuts, cattle, rubber and gums.
Complete telegraph system; railway communi-
cation with the coast. Population of capital,
Bamako, 24,041.

Colony of the I'fl^er Volta. Total area,
about 142,000 square miles; population (1926),
3.029,105. Economically, industrially and com-
mercially it possesses the same characteristics
as French Sudan. Population of Ouagadou-
gou, administrative centre, 10,000.

Mauritania. Total area, 347.400 .square
miles ; total population, about 289.484, chiefly
Aloorish Mohammedans.

Colony of the Niger. Estimated area, 404,-
914 square miles; population (1928), 1,427,536.
Agriculture and stock-raising important. Chief
products, millet, sorghum, manioc and dates.
Niamey is the capital.

FRENCH MANDATED TERRITORY IN AFRICA
Togo. Former German territory now di-
vided between France and Great Britain.
French area. 21,893 square miles; total popu-
lation, about 747,450. Lome is the seat of
administration.

Cameroon. Former German territory now
divided between France and Great Britain.
Total French area, 166,489 square miles ; popu-
lation (1926), 1,878,683. Seat of government
is at Yaounde.

'TwixT THE Desert and the Sea

AlgeriUy Tunisia and Tripoli and Their People

In ancient times the Phoenicians and the Romans, then the Vandals, and later
the Arabs and Turks, all left their mark upon these lands, which are bounded
by the vast Sahara Desert on the south and by the Mediterranean Sea on the
north. Aftei- being more Or less united under the Arabs, the territories of
Algeria and Tunisia became semi-independent and were known as the Barbary
States from the Berbers. Tripoli was eventually included within the Turkish
Empircifas was Tunisia for a short period. Pirates and slave-traders from
the ports of Algeria and Tunisia preyed upon European shipping until the
early,/part of the nineteenth century, and it was owing to their activities that
the French turned their attention to North Africa, where they now possess a
vast' colonial empire, which includes Algeria, Tunisia and most of Morocco.
Tripoli was wrested from the decaying Ottoman Empire by the Italians in
1912, so that fifteen centuries after the extinction of the old Roman power,
Roman legions — if we may so describe the Italian armies of to-day — once more
have brought ordered rule to the Berbers and the wilder tribes of the desert
who long lived and fought in this part of North Africa.

THE desert wastes of North Africa
might be likened unto quicksands,
for old civilizations, religions and
cities have been engulfed by those fine,
tawny particles that trickl^^ through one's
fingers like water. When an animal lies
down to die in the desert, its burial is
assured ; the wind-driven sand eddies over
and about it till there is only a mound to
be seen. And the sand has treated great
cities and civilizations in the same way.

Nearly three thousand years ago,
Phoenicians and exiles from Tyre founded
the famous city of Carthage near modern
Tunis. A race of merchant seamen, they
united martial skill with a -genius for
trade. Their fleets returned laden with
slaves ^nd. their caravans with gold, and
their arniies were recruited from every
country- bordering on the Mediterranean
Sea. T'o-cjay. hilt little of their strong-
hold remains, and' their gods, Moloch and
Melkarth, are onh 'half -forgotten names.

Out in the trackless desert, Roman'
cities lie buried. Their': wharves are now
a two days' journey frVm' the sea, and
their oil-presses are a hundred guiles from
the nearest olive grove. At 'T.imgad, in
central Algeria, there is a gaunt, ruined,
sand-swept city which has been deserted
for centuries, and broken columns are the
onl)^ relics of a vanished civilization.

In the seventh century a.d. the Moham-
medan conquerors swept across the

Libyan Desert, through Tunisia and Al-
geria, and into IMorocco. Carthaginians,
Romans, Vandals and Byzantines — all
had contributed something to the land
that eventually became an Arab strong-
hold. About ninety miles from Carthage,
the Arabs, or Saracens, built their mys-
terious, forbidden city of Kairawan.
Then it was that Tunis once more became
the centre of culture.

Arab genius kept alight the lamp of
learning, while Europe yet awaited the
passing of the dark ages. The courts of
the North African potentates were filled
with poets and musicians, and the col-
leges with learned men. Then the flame
died. The books of the philosophers and
chemists were burned in order that the
Koran might remain unquestioned, and
the golden age of Arab culture passed, as
other civilizations have done.

Eor centuries these lands were in an
almost continuous; state of war with one
or another of the European powers, be-
cause their ports sheltered swarms of
pirates and slave-traders who boldly
seized merchant ships or even small war
vessels, confiscating all property and
holding for ransom the captives. It came
about that most of the nations of Europe
were paying large tribute to these Bar-
bary States in order to be free from their
piratical attacks. After the Am,erican
Revolution,'" when the United States, no

t/3 (U
(U J-i J-i
be c3

n <-> c« 43

^-^^^

O I— I

tfi . O)

o D

c3 c3 C
^ O

.t^

O ^ J5 ^

^ -a

<L> <u ^

'r^ O <^

^OQ-^ ^

S OJ O ^

> ^ o

^ ^ S S

BEDUINS AT PLAY IN BISKRA, THE QUEEN OF ALGERIAN OASES

The beautiful oasis of Biskra lies at the edge of the sea of sand that Js the Sahara and just
beneath the clifflike walls of the Aures, the ;southernmost range of .the} Algerian Atlas. It is
watered by a stream, and care|ul*tr0gation'" l^s enabled its palm groves.' fruit orchards and
cornfields to stretch ^for miles. "Biskra is famous as "The Garden of Allah."'

TIVIXT THE DESERT AND THE SEA

longer under the protection afforded by
Great Britain's tributes, sent a fleet to
force the pkmderers to peaceful ways,
other nations did likewise and eventually
the rulers promised to reform their
countries. But the old Arab genius was
lacking, and another country gradually
assumed control in Algeria and Tunisia.

It was the French who seized this op-
portunity of acquiring a vast colonial em-
pire, and they have done much of which
to be proud. Their roads and railways
in Algeria and Tunisia stretch from the
Mediterranean to the Sudan, and all
North Africa, save Tripoli, Egypt, and
a small part of ?^torocco. is theirs. Time
alone will show whether their work will
be lasting or whether their roads, rail-
v/ays, irrigation systems and towns will
disappear in turn.

Old Pirate-town of Algiers

Algeria, one of the old Barl^ary States,
lies between Morocco and Tunisia, and
its chief port and capital is Algiers, once
notorious for its pirates. Algiers is an
example of the renewed prosperity of
North Africa. Its wharves are crowded
with ships loading their cargoes of grain
and tobacco ; its palm-shaded streets echo
with the rumbling of heavy lorries and
tram-cars. Shops such as we might ex-
l^ect to find in Paris cater to wealthy
citizens, and merchants and tourists of
all nationalities may be found in its
palatial hotels.

Algiers might be compared to a
tumbledown house in which the drains
have been repaired and the lower floors
rebuilt, while the ancient attics remain
the same. The attics of the town are the
pirate town. ( ileaming white against the
blue of sky and water, it climbs above
the mansions and the wharves of the in-
truders, and from a distance it looks like
a pile of ivory dominoes. Each little flat-
topped house seems to be peering over
its neighbor, and at the summit is the
Kasbah, the fort of the old Arab rulers.

Hidden Beauties of the City

Less than one hundred and fifty years
ago the sight of a strange sail on the

horizon would-^. cause .these roof-tops to
be crowded/' Jvith excited people. Was
it a pirate ship • returning laden with
plundep^:;and slaves ? Or was it the fleet
of Spain, "^Fr Britain, or the

LInited iStates coming to batter at the
walls, with shot and shell?

The old town is without a real street,
and its winding alleys are closed to all
save pedestrians and little, laden don-
keys. Many of the houses are built over
these alleys, up which climb white-clad
Arabs with slippered feet. Blank, white-
washed walls line these narrow ways, for
the houses, like the Arab women, hide
their beauty. Inside them we should find
cool courtyards in which fountains play,
and carved balconies overlooking the en-
closures. Beautiful tiles cover the walls,
and the plaster is molded into intricate
patterns.

The bazaars of Algiers are fascinating
places, in which the old life of the town
can be seen. The shops are little booths
raised from the ground, at which the
owners sit cross-legged waiting for their
customers. There are shoemakers' shops,
where the wizened craftsmen sit stitch-
ing at heelless colored sli])pers. On all
sides are piles of slippers of every hue,
tasseled and embroidered in scarlet and
green silk.

Fair People of the Algerian Hills

Here is a jeweler working with such
tools as were used in Harun-al-Rashid's
Bagdad. There are metal-workers, ham-
mering brass into the most delightful
bowls and boxes ; and through the throng
moves the itinerant water-seller, and the
Maltese who has wandered up from the
French town to sell picture postcards to
tourists. With their usual instinct for
commerce, the Jews have penetrated
deeply into the business life of Algiers.
They own many of the booths, but be-
cause they are not popular, they generally
trade under Arab names.

From the old town can be seen the
wooded slopes of the hills, where the
Kabyles, or Berber Arabs, live. They
are a distinct race of people and are the
descendants of the original inhabitants.

HOPING TO LOOSEN PURSE-STRINGS BY MEANS OF PATHETIC AIRS

Just as people in this country play the fiddle or turn the handle of a hurdy-gurdy at the
pavement's edge to get pennies from passers-by, so in the streets of Algeria we shall find
Negro musicians strumming on curious instruments of home manufacture. Coin-decked
dancing girls are there, too, who are called Ouled Nails, and travel from town to town
dancing in the open street, in the pasha's harem or in the native cafes.

McLeish

LITTLE ARAB WHO ONE DAY MAY LEAD A DESERT CARAVAN

This small son of the desert shows in his expression some of the dignity and aloofness that
is characteristic of his race. His embroidered and tasseled cap, striped cloak and leather
shoes prove him to be the son of a rich man. It is quite possible that his father is a trader,
who has many times led a caravan on the arduous journey across the desert to Timbuktu,
the terminus of one of the three great Sahara trade routes.

LADY OF ALGIERS GIVING AN ORDER TO HER GREENGROCER

The busy city of Algiers is divided quite definitely into two parts, the old Arab and the
modern French towns. We do not need to be told where we shall find this narrow street,
which is little more than a flight of steps, with tiny shops on each side. Up and down it
mysterious female figures wrapped in shapeless garments noiselessly pass and repass.

Perrin

LIKE ALGIERS, TUNISIA'S CAPITAL HAS A NEW TOWN AND AN OLD

The old quarter of Tunis is picturesque in the extreme, with its narrow streets, glorious
mosques and wonderfully stocked bazaars, which are known here as souks. Here in the
Souk des Etoffe we see some of the beautiful things that we can buy in the dark little shops
— hand-made rugs, the rich colors of which do not fade even under an African sun.

Many of them are fair. They are farmers
and graziers, and on the hillsides are
fields, pastures and orchards.

Agriculture is flourishing in Algeria,
for the French encourage farming by
developing irrigation schemes and many
French farmers have settled there. Al-
though the natives use the most primi-
tive methods in working their farms, they
produce large quantities of wheat, barley
and oats, a variety of vegetables, tropical
fruits and tobacco, most of which are
shipped to France to keep the markets

supplied during the winter months. From
the grapes, which also grow luxuriantly,
large quantities of wine are made. The
fertile part of Algeria is a narrow strip
of land bordering the sea ; farther south
and running parallel to the coast, there
are the high plateaus of the Atlas Moun-
tains, which extend to the waste of sand
and rugged hills on the northern edge of
the Sahara Desert.

Traveling through Algeria, we shall
see orange groves, cornfields and the red-
roofed farmhouses of settlers. In places

ALGERIAN GIRLS are often quite beautiful, as witness this jewel-decked Kabyle who so
proudly displays the charms of her person and raiment. The beauty of the women-
folk— a beauty they lose very early — is not surprising considering the thousands of lovely girls
who were captured by the Barbary corsairs and v/ere brought back for the Algerian harems.

TWO GAILY CLAD BLACK GIRLS OF THE NORTHERN SAHARA

The people who dwell in Algeria are of many races. In addition to the native Berbers, there
are, for instance, Arabs, who came originally from the East, Europeans from the North,
Negroes from the South, and half-breeds who are a mixture of all these races. These little
Negresses dwell in one of the low huts of sun-baked mud that form an oasis village.

McLeish

THREE SHAMELESS LITTLE BEGGARS IN A STREET OF TUNIS

All over the East — and the Barbary States are thoroughly Eastern in character — ^we shall
find that beggars, both young and old, are considered to follow quite a respectable trade.
These happy-appearing little urchins of Tunis, though they are clad in rags, it is true, cer-
tainly do not seem to be in want — yet they impudently demand alms of all who pass by them.

'TWIXT THE DESERT AND THE SEA

we may see herds of camels grazing on
the hillsides. The Arabian camel is used
throughout North Africa, and without
him commerce and travel would be al-
most impossible, though motor cars are
being used more and more.

Situated on a rock over two thousand
feet in height, which is cut off from the
surrounding country on three sides by a
beautiful ravine is the city of Constan-
tine, aptly named by the Arabs ''the city
of the air." It is an ancient city rebuilt
by Constantine the Great in the fourth
century on the site of a Roman colony.
Since the coming of the French, new
streets have heen laid out and many fine
buildings constructed, but the native
quarter with its winding lanes and squalid
flat-roofed houses, remains truly oriental.

Algeria's Largest Oasis

From Biskra, an oasis noted for its
beauty, we can take a peep at the desert.
The town is a great meeting place for
the desert people, and if we stay there
long enough we are almost certain to see
representatives of all the tribes inhabit-
ing the Sahara. Biskra is well-watered
by underground springs, and hundreds of
thousands of date-palms grow in the
neighborhood. There are half a dozen
Arab villages in the Biskra oasis, but the
town itself is a curious mixture of an-
cient and modern, for its delightful
winter climate has made it a popular re-
sort with several fine, modern hotels.

In a shady corner we may come upon
an old marabout, or holy man, tracing
figures in the sand. He has charms and
amulets — ^^pink coral to avert the evil eye,
the hair of a four-months-old baby for
protection against scorpions, verses from
the Koran sewed into leather bags, and
many others. He earns his living by
selling these charms to the superstitious
Arabs. Past him hurry energetic tour-
ists, equipped with guide-books and sun-
glasses, and accompanied by a Negro in
a ragged goatskin cloak.

In the Tunis of To-day

When the Phoenician mariners first
sailed into what is now known as the

Gulf of Tunis they saw on the horizon
the symbol of their deity Baal, the
Horned God — a happy omen, which, we
may be sure, was not lost upon the
founders of Carthage and Tunis. And
to-day the pine-clad pinnacle of Bou-
Cornein, which in Arabic means "the
Father of Two Horns," is the most con-
spicuous landmark on the coast. It is so
called because the summit is curved,
forming two horns.

Tunisia is the most easterly of France's
African possessions and in many ways it
resembles Algeria. The wealth of both
lies in a comparatively narrow strip of
fertile coastal land, which on the south
is succeeded by mountainous country and
desert. Phosphates are found in Tunis,
and at Gafsa there are extensive work-
ings, where hundreds of Arabs are em-
ployed in digging and blasting the
precious mineral.

The white city of Tunis lies on the
Bay of Tunis, across which, at sunset,
the red flamingoes fly to their homes
among the reeds. People of all nations
rub shoulders in its streets and boule-
vards, and the flags of many nations fly
upon the ships in the harbor.

In the Perfume Bazaar of Tunis

In Tunis there is a street as fragrant
as a flower garden. This is the perfume
bazaar, where the scent of thousands of
roses is imprisoned in little crystal vials.
Each perfumer sits in his little cupboard
of a shop, which is raised several feet
from the ground, and the air is heavy
with the mingled perfumes of orange
blossom, attar-of-roses and verbena.

These sellers of perfumes claim de-
scent from the Moorish aristocrats who
were driven from Spain in the fifteenth
century. Often their most treasured
heirloom is the key of their ancient castle
in Sjxiin, which, it is to be feared, is
sometimes as legendary as the proverbial
ones.

The Arab shopkeeper is a man of lei-
sure. His booth is his bed and there
he dozes, drinks coffee and prays occa-
sionally. He seems indifferent to cus-
tom and puts more faith in Allah than in

RELIC OF ROME'S TRIUMPHANT CAxMPAIGN IN TRIPOLI

This four-fronted triumphal arch of carved white marble, still beautiful though half de-
stroyed, is named after the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who completed it. Its appear-
ance with a wooden protective roof is curious; originally it was probably half as high again,
and more dignified. Tripoli, the Gea of the Phoenicians, is one of the old cities of Africa.

THE DATE HARVEST is of great importance to the oasis-dweller, for dates are his chief
food and his chief article of commerce while the branches are used for thatching his
buildings. The golden-brown fruit, hanging in heavy clusters is cut down in the autumn, and
the sorting, storing and packing them keep men, women and children busy for weeks.

WHITE TUNIS — Tunis la Blanche — lies spread out below the muezzin, who, from the
gallery of the minaret, turns his face to the east and calls the Faithful to prayer. Tunis
is a beautiful city lying beside a shallow lake that is connected by a strait with an
inlet of the Mediterranean. The ruins of ancient Carthage He only a few miles away.

IN CONST ANTINE, third city in Algeria, we shall find many wonderful examples of
Moorish architecture, but none will please us more than the building that was formerly the
palace of the beys of Constantine, with its sunny galleries, graceful arches and colored
tiles. This is one of the historic buildings of the old town. Parts of it date to 1232.

Home

TELEGRAPH WIRES LOOK OUT OF PLACE IN ANCIENT TRIPOLI

Slender minarets break the monotony of flat-roofed, whitewashed houses in the native
quarter of Tripoli, the capital of Italy's colony of the same name. This cobbled street, lined
with dilapidated-looking shops, is the Strada della Marina. The Mediterranean Sea washes
the city walls on the north; the sands of the Sahara almost touch them on the west.

'TIVIXT THE DESERT AND THE SEA

advertising. The Jews and the Maltese,
on the other hand, possess the more
modern spirit and do not hesitate to
pester any likely or unlikely customer.

The city of Kairawan, in Tunisia, is
considered by Mohammedans to be one
of the hoHest cities in Africa, being some-
times known as the ''African Mecca.''
and is visited by many pilgrims. Roman
cities fell that Kairawan might rise, for,
as it was built soon after the Arab con-
quest, it was largely constructed of pil-
laged Roman masonry. Temple cornices
are built into its walls, and its founda-
tion stones are the altars from the
temples of pagan gods.

In 1912, Italy wrested Tripoli from
the Turks, so that, after many centuries,
Rome once more rules vast stretches of
these desert sands. Tripoli was once one
of the granaries of Europe. Cornfields
and olive groves covered the land. Then,
like a plague of locusts, came the Arab

invaders, and Tripoli was a granary no
more. ''Whence comes this wealth?"
asked an amazed Arab general of a cap-
tive. "From this," answered the man,
pointing to an olive lying in the dust.

Tripoli, or the Italian Libya, has been
divided into two districts. The western
part bordering on Tunisia and Algeria
is named Tripolitania and that which
joins Egypt on the east is called Cyre-
naica. Tripoli, the capital of the first
named is the largest city and is called by
the Arabs, the "white city." Before the
Italians came the streets were filthy and
the inhabitants were afflicted with fever
and cholera. Now it is as healthful a
town as any in North Africa. Around
Tripoli there are many primitive wells,
where patient oxen, walking backward
and forward, bring to the surface goat-
skins brimming with water. The great
curse of agriculture is the drifting sand.

Tripoli is very close to the desert. One

LADIES OF TRIPOLI'S HAREMS ON THEIR WAY TO THE MOSQUE '
Though in many Mohammedan countries the strictness of the rules regarding womankind
have lately been somewhat relaxed, women of the harem in Tripoli must still let no one
except their husbands gaze upon their face and form. When they pass through the
streets they must conceal themselves beneath shapeless wraps and dark masks.

■S-3 2

^ ^ ^

o S o

"is T3 (U ^•

OJ I-.

t/j a, 0)

H CD

O (u

>- o
o

-t::J

S'2

t/3

— ^ 5J

c > O *j

C (U > oj

O V- r -C3

C rt cu <J

-So

P.I

O >->-(

o »- ^

_Q O ^ (U

u3 ;^ -i=<! ^

Ht/5 >^ flj
^ <= c

A BEDUIN WOMAN of Tunis admires silver ornaments— earrings, brooches and jeweled
necklaces,— and she Hkes to wear many at one time. Often she wears a large part of her
husband's capital, and as his wealth increases so will the number of silver chains, supporting
coins or charms, that she fastens to her necklace. Chains may dangle from her brooches as well.

'TWIXT THE DESERT AND THE SEA

feels the presence of the immense Sa-
hara, even when one wanders in the
streets, jostled by dark Sudanese, well-
built Beduins and all the members of the
Eastern crowd. From some convenient
vantage point we may espy a string of
camels afar off. Perhaps they have come
laden with ostrich feathers or ivory across
the Libyan Desert, which is really a part
of the vast Sahara.

The Arabs who inhabit these arid
wastes are very different from the pale
townsfolk of the Algerian cities. They
are a hardy race of wanderers, descen-
dants of the fanatical warriors who

overwhelmed Roman Africa. They count
their wealth in horses, camels and sheep,
and move from one oasis to another un-
der the guidance of a sheik, or head-man.

Cyrenaica, the eastern portion of the
Italian Libya, takes its name from the
Greek colony, Cyrene, founded in North
Africa about 631 B.C. Its principal city
and capital is the town of Benghazi which
is situated on the east coast of the Gulf
of Sidra. Although Benghazi Hes in a
fertile district where wheat, corn, fruits,
and dates are grown, it has little im-
portance as a shipping centre because of
its shallow harbor.

ALGERIA, TUNISIA AND TR

THE COUNTRY

That portion of North Africa between the
Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea
which has Egypt to the east and Morocco to
the west. Algeria is a French colony, Tunisia,
a French protectorate and Tripoli, an Italian
colony.

ALGERIA

Government under a French Governor-
General assisted by Financial Delegations
(representing French colonists, French tax-
payers and Mohammedan natives) and a Su-
perior Council. The area, including desert, is
about 1,000,000 square miles (estimate) ; popu-
lation, 6,064,865. Only small area near the
coast suitable for agriculture ; mountainous
regions adapted to grazing. Large area forest-
covered but greater portion of little value.
Cereals, fruit, silk, flax and tobacco produced.
Minerals include iron ore and phosphates, zinc,
lead, mercury, copper and antimony. Fishing
and sheep-raising are important. Chief ex-
ports are wine, wheat, sheep, tobacco, phos-
phates, eggs; imports are sugar, petroleum,
paper, clothing and automobiles. Road mileage
is 9,215; railway mileage, 2,853. Length of
telegraph line, 9,564 miles ; telephone line,
16,935 miles. Native population entirely Mo-
hammedan. Besides primary and secondary
schools, there are schools of commerce, fine
arts, hydrography, agriculture, normal schools
and a university in Algiers. Population of
chief cities: Algiers, 226,218; Oran, 150,301;
Constantine, 93,373.

TUNISIA

Government by a native sultan under direc-
tion of French Resident-General, assisted by a
ministry of 8 French and 3 Tunisian members.
The area, about 48,300 square miles; total
population, 2,159,708. The capital, Tunis;
population, 185,996. Chief industry is agri-
culture and large estates predominate. Vines,
olives, dates, almonds, oranges, lemons, pis-

'OLI: FACTS AND FIGURES

tachios and alfa (esparto) grass are grown.
Minerals include lead ore, zinc ore, iron and
phosphates. Native industries are wool-weav-
ing, carpet-weaving, leather embroidery, sad-
dlery and pottery. Fishing and stock-raising
are important. Exports are marble, stone and
minerals, crude metals and grain ; imports :
textiles, metal goods and mealy foods. Rail-
way mileage, 1,258 miles; length of telegraph
line, 3,375 miles ; telephone line, 9,569 miles.
There are 441 public schools with 68,150
pupils ; many private schools and a Moham-
medan university at Tunis.

TRIPOLI OR ITALIAN LIBYA

Under an Italian Governor. For administra-
tive purposes the country is divided into 2
districts — Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. The
area of Tripolitania is about 350,000 square
miles, and the population, 570.000. Tripoli,
the capital, has about 60,000 inhabitants. Small
portion of the country is suitable for agricul-
ture. Olives, almonds, fruits and mulberry
trees are grown. Sponge-fishing is of great
importance. Other industries are tobacco
manufacture and the making of carpets and
matting, leather articles, embroidered fabrics,
gold and silver work. Salt is mined and ex-
ported. Communication is mostly by Caravan.
Railway mileage, 138; road mileage, 1,007.
Steamship service.

The area of Cyrenaica is about 75,340 square
miles with the hinterland (zone of Cufra),
285,640 square miles ; population, 229,700. The
capital, Benghazi, population, 30,056. Agricul-
ture is the chief industry and bananas, wine
grapes, barley and dates are grown. Sponge
and tunny fishing are carried on. Exports are
sponges, barley, wool and goats' hair, tunny
fish and cattle ; imports : cotton goods and
sugar. Good carriage roads join coastal
centres ; railway mileage. 102 miles. There
are 7 telegraph stations; 17 wireless stations;
12 telephone exchanges. The harbor of Ben-
ghazi is too shallow for large ships.

EGYPT'S Wonders of the Past

Its Vast Temples and Palaces and Their Builders

The fertile valley of the Nile which forms most of the land of Egypt — so full
of living interest in the daily scenes of its cities and villages — is, to all who like
to think about the wonderful things that men did in long past ages, the most
attractive place in all the world. We ma.y have a glimpse of present-day
Egypt in the chapters on Cairo and the Gift of the Nile. Here, we are to
read of the Egyptians who lived thousands of years ago and of the wonderful
tombs, temples and sculptures which they left and which reveal to us the very-
life of those ancient times.

NCIENT Egypt was one of the
most curiously shaped countries in
the world. It consisted of two

people about whom
on vases show that
oars and even sails

narrow strips of fer-
tile land, one on each
side of the Nile, be-
yond which stretched
vast deserts. Thus,
although it was sev-
eral hundred miles in
length, Egypt was
only a few miles in
breadth. The pros-
perity of the land de-
pended upon the
Nile. Along it ships
brought trade to the
towns; its annual
floods enriched the
fields with a coating
of mud ; from it the
villagers obtained
water for irrigation
— as they do still.

This country was
the home of one of
the oldest civiliza-
tions. Even previous
to the beginning of
written history,
which some histo-
rians say was seven
thousand years ago,
there were people
living in Egypt
whose flint imple-
ments and pottery
indicate a civilization
beyond that of any
other pre-historic

Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo

MODEL OF AN UNKNOWN LADY

This graceful wooden statue, one of the most
beautiful of ancient Egyptian statues in
existence, was probably executed more than
four thousand five hundred years ago.

we know. Paintings
they used boats with
and they cultivated
grain. All these
things have been
found in the graves,
for the Egyptians be-
lieved in a life here-
after and they
thought it necessary
to be buried with
jars of food and
drink so that all
would be ready for
them when they re-
turned to another
life.

History begins
with the rule of
Menes who lived,
some believe, about
5500 B.C., though
others think it was
not until 3400 years
before the birth of
Christ. Menes united
the two provinces
of Lower and Upper
Egypt into one na-
tion and established
the city of Memphis
where he made his
residence.

From his time on,
there have been so
many rulers of
Egypt that histo-
rians have divided
them into thirty dy-
nasties or families

HEWN FROM SOLID ROCK, four immense statues of the Pharaoh Rameses II of Egypt
stand outside the temple of the Rising Sun at Abu-Simbel, two on each side of the en-
trance. Here we see an Arab standing on the lap of one of these enormous figures. He
seems an insignificant dwarf, indeed, compared with the statue of the long-dead ruler.

EGYPT S WONDERS OF THE PAST

in each of which reigned many kings,
known as Pharaohs. The names of these
have been gleaned from tablets and papy-
rus, for early Egyptians inscribed their
deeds by means of pictures and marks
which learned men have deciphered for
us. This was the earliest form of writing.

Outstanding among the Pharaohs was
Khuf u, or Cheops, who organized the gov-
ernment so that the country was ready
for the greatest period of its history. He
built the Great Pyramid in 2900 B.C. and
it far excels anything that has been con-
structed even to this day, but we shall
read of that in the chapter on the Sphinx
and the Pyramid.

At the height of its power, about 1560
B.C., ancient Egypt was an empire com-
prising not only the Nile Valley but Pal-
estine and the greater part of Syria.
Thothmes III was ruling then with the
assistance of his step-mother, Hatshepsut,
who seems to have been a very able
woman and was undoubtedly the first

feminist. She is often referred to as the
''Queen Elizabeth of Egypt." Thothmes
III, possibly the greatest ruler in Egyp-
tian history, led his army in seventeen
campaigns against the Syrians, crossed
the Euphrates and received gifts from the
Hittites in Asia Minor and from the king
of Babylon. During his reign, the peoples
of Punt and Ethiopia, just south of
Egypt, acknowledged its supremacy and
sent enormous quantities of ivory, gold
and spices to its temples and Pharaohs.
Ships and caravans traded with Babylon,
Crete, Greece and various Syrian towns.
Records of all these activities were chron-
icled on the walls of the great temple at
Karnak.

Of the same dynasty but living a hun-
dred and sixty years later was Amenhotep
III, who is known as a great builder. The
magnificent temple at Luxor, temple py-
lons and whole avenues of sculptured
rams, though damaged by time, are still
viewed by thousands of tourists each

Metroi)olitan Museum, N. Y.

HOW BREAD AND BEVERAGES WERE MADE IN ANCIENT EGYPT

In 1920 scores of little models representing everyday life in Egypt four thousand years ago,
were found near the tomb of Mehenkwetre, an Egyptian noble. No model, whose spirit
could increase his comfort after death, was omitted. Here they are seen grinding corn and
making bread, while in the left apartment brewing is in progress.

EGYPT'S WONDERS OF THE PAST

year. Cuneiform tablets
of this period show that
he carried on quite a cor-
respondence with the
king of Babylon and
other monarchs in far-
away lands.

His son, Amenhotep
IV^ stands out because
he was a religious fa-
natic. Casting aside all
deities, including Ammon
and many others whom
they worshiped and in
whose honor they had
built and decorated these
vast temples, he forced
the people to worship a
universal god ''Aten"
who represented the sun-
disk. He even changed
his name to Akhenaten
which means ''pious to
Aten." While he was so
busy with religious re-
forms, however, his
country was having polit-
ical troubles and he lost
Syria and other territory
in outlying districts. Al-
though his son-in-law,
Tutankhamen, restored
Ammon and the former deities to their
places as the objects of worship, he did
nothing to get back the lost territory, and it
was not until the next dynasty, about 1240
B.C., that Seti I and his son, Rameses 11,
regained it. Rameses H is supposed to
have been the oppressor of the children
of Israel who, we remember from the
Bible, came to Egypt because of a famine
in the land of Canaan. So prosperous
did they become that the Pharaoh made
it very hard for them and they finally
went back to their own land. Rameses H
may not have treated the Jewish tribes
justly but he did a great deal for Egypt.
Following his reign, however, there was
a long period of decline and the country
finally fell to the Persians who were them-
selves driven out by the Greeks in 332
r..c. under the generalship of Alexander
the Great, famous king and conqueror.

STONE FIGURES IN THE TEMPLE OF

McLeish

AMMON

Amon^ the finest of the remains in this, the greatest temple in
ancient Egypt, are these two statues. That on the left repre-
sents the god Osiris, and the other is Thothmes III, whose con-
quests are recorded on the walls of the temple.

When, after Alexander's death, his
dominions were divided up, Egypt fell to
Ptolemy, his lieutenant, who founded a
dynasty by that name which lasted about
three hundred years. The last of his line
was the famous Cleopatra, who killed her-
self by means of a poisonous snake, and
her empire fell to the Romans.

But let us pay a visit to some of the
ruins of ancient magnificence. Perhaps
the most wonderful are the Pyramids and
Sphinx, but we shall leave them for the
time being and go on, not so very far, to
the site of the ancient city of Memphis,
the royal capital of Egypt five thousand
years ago. Nothing remains to-day of
this city, formerly so great, but the ruins
of temples, palaces and dwelling-houses.
Even the gigantic statues of the Pharaoh
Rameses II, that once stood here, have
fallen to the ground.

THIS STATUE OF TUTANKHAMEN, one of the two that stood in the ante-chamber
his tomb like sentinels guarding the dead, is of carved wood, splendidly adorned wit
head-dress and ornaments of beaten gold. It is seven feet in height, and the head-dress 1
the upraised serpent, the sign of loyalty. King Tutankhamen lived over oOOO years a

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM. N. Y.

ROYAL TREASURE, including gold-plated furniture and rich gifts to the dead king, sur-
round this statue of Tutankhamen, which is shown also on the opposite page. Here we see
a beautifully decorated clothes chest, alabaster vases that once held spices and the remains
of bunches of flowers. These were believed to be used by the dead in the oth?r world.

HUNTING SCENES UPON THE TEMPLE WALLS AT MEDINET ABU

About half a mile from the Colossi of Memnon is the little village of Medinet Abu. where
stand the ruins of two temples. On the outside of the walls of the larger building are pic-
tured inscriptions showing Rameses III, who lived more than three thousand years ago,
hunting wild bulls, mountain-goats and wild asses, and making war on the Libyans.

EGYPT S WONDERS OF THE PAST

More interesting is
Tell-el-Amarna. a town
founded in 1340 B.C. by
Pharaoh Akhenaten, the
father-in-law of T 11 1 -
ankhamen. Here we can
pace the ancient streets
and alleys, and visit the
palaces and mansions of
the king and his great
men. A few exquisitely
beautiful paintings and
sculptures remind us of
past glories.

When we inspect the
dilapidated little houses
in the workmen's quarter
we can easily imagine
how the poor folk lived
in the days of Akhenaten.
Some of their food-bowls
and water- jars are still in
a perfect state of preser-
vation and could well be
used to-day. The Pha-
raoh himself had a won-
derful pleasure palace
with gardens, an arti-
ficial lake and many
pools.

The Egyptians were
famous for the immense
size of most of their
important temples and
monuments, as well as
for the magnificence of
the decorations that they
lavished on them. Let
us go to Dendera and
visit the huge temple of
the goddess Hathor. This was built in
comparatively modern times — about the
beginning of the Christian era. The pil-
lars of the temple, all of them covered with
carvings and richly painted, are about
forty feet high. On the outer walls is a
figure of Cleopatra, one of the most fa-
mous queens in the world's history, that
is almost three times the height of an or-
dinary man. The greatest pains were
taken to make the temple beautiful, and
although it is now in ruins, it has not en-
tirely lost its magnificence.

1 1

MASONS AT WORK ON A GREAT STATUE

This picture of the fifteenth century B.C. shows workmen giving
the finishing touches to a figure of Thothmes III, which is sur-
rounded by scaffolding. One man is polishing the crown, another
decorating the feet; others are chiseling the breast and the back.

Traveling up the Nile from Dendera,
we presently arrive at Thebes. We shall
not, for the moment, visit the city itself
but the temples, and especially those of
Karnak and Luxor. Among them all, the
temple of Ammon first claims our atten-
tion, since it is the largest and one of the
most splendid. Almost four hundred
years were spent in building it ; and as
we look at the huge pillars in its famous
Hypostyle Hall, at the enormous blocks
of stone of which its walls and towers are
built and at its gigantic statues, we wonder

METROFOLITAN MUSEUM. N.

ALABASTER VASES were among the many priceless treasures found in the tomb of
Tutankhamen, who died about 1350 B. C. Their exquisite shapes and decorations show how
artistic were the craftsmen of Egypt in those ancient days. The fragrance of the perl umed oint-
ments that these vases contained was still perceptible when they were discovered in 1922-23.

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM. N. Y.

BESIDE THIS SHRINE, which was placed in the ante-chamber of Tutankhamen's tomb,
stands a wooden ushabti figure. On it is painted a charm to ensure that its soul shall obey
the dead king in the other world. The shrine is covered with heavy sheets of gold, and on
Its doors, here shown open, are depicted incidents in the lives of Tutankhamen and his wife.

McLeish

AMONG THE RUINS OF A TEMPLE OF THE GODDESS HATHOR

Dendera, the ancient Tentyra, was one of the finest and most famous cities in Egypt. Its
beautiful sandstone temple was built by Ptolemy XIII, the father of the famous Cleopatra,
and the walls bear an interesting series of inscriptions. Within the temple are secret cham-
bers for hiding treasure. On the roof is a building which was used for the worship of Osiris.

IN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TEMPLE OF HORUS, THE SUN-GOD

The great temple at Edfu, of whose spacious court we here see a corner, was dedicated to
Horus, the heaven or sun-god. Of great size and decorated with very many wonderful
carvings, it is one of the most perfect buildings of ancient Egypt that exist to-day. Horus
was usually represented in Egyptian art as having a man's body and a falcon's head.

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM. N. Y.

THIS STRIKING CREATURE, with a long, slender body and legs like those of a cat, is
one of the twin supports of the couch of King Tutankhamen, that was found in his tomb
in the Valley of the Kings, a valley of rock-cut tombs, among the Theban Hills. The monster
is made of wood, richly gilded, and its gleaming teeth and long, pink tongue are of ivory.

t~1

TWO WOODEN HANDMAIDENS, half life-size and beautifully carved, were found in
the tomb of Mehenkwetre, a nobleman who lived about 2000 B. C. Models of servants were
placed in the tombs of nobles and were called Ushabtis, or "Answerers," since their spirits
were supposed to wait upon the nobles' spirits in the other world. They carry food in the baskets.

EGYPT S WONDERS OF THE PAST

how it came to be built in an age long be-
fore cranes and other mechanical devices
were known. Especially do we marvel at
the genius of the ancient architects under
whose care it was built, and at the patience
and skill of the artists who adorned it with
their carvings.

Very wonderful too are the temple of
the moon-god, Khensu, the temple of
Rameses III, in which the pillars are
carved to represent the god Osiris and the
long avenues with rows of sculptured
sphinxes on each side of them, that lead
to the various temples. We must not miss
the temple of Amenhotep III, however,
for it is very splendid. Its doorways were
in his time studded with gold, and the
forecourt, which was built by Amenhotep,
was paved with silver. Round this court
are seventy-four columns, each in the
form of a papyrus-bud.

Where the Pharaohs Were Buried

Beyond the Theban temples we see a
line of bleak hills against the deep blue of
the sky. In them is the desolate Valley
of the Kings, which contains the burial-
places of many of the great Egyptian
Pharaohs. They were hidden here so that
their bodies might not be disturbed by
thieves in search of the gold and jewels
that were buried with them. In this valley
was found, in 1922, the tomb of the young
King Tutankhamen, with all his treas-
ures, but he was a very unimportant mon-
arch compared with some of the others
who were buried near by.

The graves of mighty Rameses II,
of Amenhotep III, of Thothmes III and
many another ruler of Egypt have all been
discovered here. Some of the tombs are
marvelously decorated, and from the pic-
tures and carvings in them we may learn
much about the ancient Egyptians. Others
have contained articles of furniture and
personal belongings of the dead kings, and
from these also the story of the past can
be read.

Embalming the Royal Bodies

The bodies of the kings as well as of
all who could afford it were prepared for
burial by a long and costly process. Em-

balmed first, the body was then wrapped
tightly in fold after fold of linen which
had been soaked in some kind of preser-
vative and placed in a coffin made in the
likeness of the person it contained. This
statue-coffin was placed in still another
coffin of stone or wood. Thus, the remains
and all its possessions awaited the day
when the immortal soul should return. In
the Museum of Antiquities at Cairo, the
mummies of many of the famous Egyp-
tian kings are on view, while in our own
museums we may see the mummies of the
less important people. All this has served
to make Egypt of the past so very real
to us.

There are many other temples and
monuments in diff"erent parts of Egypt
that we might visit, but we shall leave the
lifeless statues and great empty buildings
and turn to the people who erected them.

Let us imagine ourselves in Egypt
about 1240 B.C., in the days of the great
Pharaoh Rameses II. We are at Mem-
phis, but we wish to visit friends at
Thebes, and so hire a boat in which to
travel up the Nile. Our voyage will be
extremely comfortable, since our deck-
cabin is not too small and is very airy
and handsomely furnished. We embark.
Luggage and stores are all aboard. The
rowers bend to their oars and we begin
to glide placidly up the river. Day after
day we proceed, sitting when it is not too
hot on the high platforms at the bow and
the stern to watch all that happens on the
banks. Sometimes a breeze springs up
and the gaily-colored sails are hoisted.

We Are Welcomed by the Merchant

At last we see Thebes, the most mag-
nificent city in all Egypt, and the temples
of Karnak and Luxor with three bare
grim hills beyond them. Our boat is
moored to the stone-paved quay, and we
go ashore to meet our friends. One of
them, a merchant, comes forward to greet
us. He is bareheaded in spite of the hot
sun, wears a linen robe with a long skirt
and carries a stout cane.

He limps a little, since his laced leather
shoes are new and tight. His wife, our
friend explains, is looking forward

MCLEISH

THIS SCULPTURED ARCH of Ptolemy III, at Karnak, stands on the site of ancient
Thebes. It is in the avenue that leads to the temple of Khensu, the god of the moon. The
arch has carved reliefs showing Ptolemy III, a warrior king of Egypt who lived in the third
century B. C, offering sacrifices to the gods of Thebes. The architecture is typical.

EGYPT S WONDERS OF THE PAST

eagerly to our visit, but she is at present
at her jeweler's waiting while he makes a
bracelet for her from a bar of gold that
she was given that morning. Our other
friend, a captain of the Libyan soldiers,
would also have been on the quay to meet
us had he not been obliged to investigate
a case of theft, for his detachment acts as
a police force in the workmen's district.
The merchant suggests that we should go
to this district on our way to his home on
the chance of seeing the captain.

In the Streets of Thebes 12 AO B.C.

The streets are narrow and the little
houses of sun-baked mud are mainly of
one story although some have two. Since
very few of the doors are closed we can
easily look inside. There is little fur-
niture to be seen — palm-leaf mats that
serve as beds and couches, some earthen-
ware dishes and jars containing water and
oil and a small image of a god are usually
all that a workman's family possesses.
Sometimes there are also two or three
wooden chests, and in some of the two-
story houses a room on the ground floor
serves as a stable for a donkey.

Scantily dressed children swarm every-
where, and in most of the houses we see
women busy at household tasks. Here is
one grinding corn ; there one is baking
bread, the chief food of the poorer people.
Another, helped by a neighbor, weaves
cloth at a rough loom. We see very few
men, however. Most of them went to
work at sunrise taking with them their
dinner — bread soaked in oil and some
fruit — and will not return home till
sunset.

We see some of them at work as we
draw near to th6 market. The clang of
hammers attracts our attention to a metal-
worker's shed. Two brawny fellows are
fashioning harness for a pair of chariot
horses. Our friend speaks to a carpenter
who is making some very handsome chairs
for him. When we resume our walk he
tells us not to go too near a certain booth.
It is the workshop of a dyer, he explains
and adds, quoting from an Egyptian
poem, that the dyes are "evil-smelling as
bad fish." We hear the tramp of a party

of men, and our other friend, the cap-
tain of Libyans, appears with a file of his
soldiers.

Negro Soldiers and Sailors

In front of the line is a trumpeter and
behind him a dozen infantrymen carry-
ing light shields and axes and with spears
sloped over their right shoulders. They
wear felt caps and waist-cloths, but no
armor, and are a very well-disciplined
body of men. Behind comes the captain,
unarmed though he carries a decorated
baton of command. He is an Egyptian,
appointed to the Libyan legion by Pha-
raoh, but the soldiers are Negroes.

As we pass through the market, let us
look at the crowds around us. There are
artisans, dressed only in waist-cloths,
with their wives, who wear simple smocks.
Clerks and priests in short kilts pass by,
and smart merchants like our friend.
Sellers of perfumes and roast meats,
bakers, shoemakers and toy-makers urge
us to inspect their wares. A barber wishes
to shave us. The slave attached to a
little restaurant suggests that we should
have our evening meal there.

Marketing without Money

Our friend waves them all away, but
wishing to buy us a present, stops at a
perfume stall. Several little jars of scent
are shown to us and we smell them, finally
choosing two. Our friend takes another
and offers the saleswoman a small block
of gold for them. She declares that it is
not enough. After a quarter of an hour's
bargaining she accepts the merchant's
offer and tells us that she is extremely
pleased to be paid in gold, since that morn-
ing she has taken a pearl necklace, a silver
bracelet and a fan set with gems in ex-
change for perfumes. Our friend ex-
plains as we stroll away that this system
of barter is the custom.

Presently we arrive at his house. It is
quite an imposing mansion of three stories
and has a large courtyard surrounded by
a high wall. The large windows of the
two upper stories overlook the street.
Within we find magnificent furniture —
chairs, carved and gilded, chests with little

KCLEISH

THE COLOSSI OF "MEMNON,'^ each about sixty-five feet high, stand by the Nile near
the ancient town of Thebes. The Greeks and Romans took the right hand statue to repre-
sent the god Memnon, which, it is said used to cry mournfully at sunrise. The figures are
statues of Amenhotep III and his wife Tiyi, a king and queen who Hved about 1400 B. C.

EGYPT S WONDERS OF THE PAST

pictures painted on them, and rich hang-
ings. The walls are painted with figures
of gods and scenes of everyday life.

The food that we are offered is ex-
cellent. We have roast meats in abun-
dance, baked fish, stuffed duck and pickled
fowl, fruit, bread and cakes. While we
eat we hear news of the merchant's two
eldest sons. One is an officer in the cele-
brated legion of Ammon — all the regi-
ments are named after gods. He is going
to take us to hunt wild fowl the next day
on the estate of a noble. The other son
is a scribe. This profession, it appears,
becomes less and less confined to the
middle classes for many of the working
classes are educating their sons to become
scribes.

When we retire for the night we find
that we are to sleep on a mattress on the
floor. Instead of having a pillow, we rest
our necks on curved wooden supports.
Everything is very clean, and the breezes
that blow through our windows are cool
and laden with the scent of flowers.

A Day of Hunting and Fishing

We go to the nobleman's estate the next
day and, embarking on wooden canoes,
proceed to a near-by marsh. We find
plenty of wild fowl among the reeds, and
our host soon kills three ducks with boom-
erangs. He has a pair of trained cats to
retrieve the game for him. While he is
throwing the boomerangs, slaves in two
other canoes lower a net. This is soon
drawn up filled with fish.

We dine with the noble and, while we
eat, minstrels play on harps. Our host is
a widely traveled man. As an army officer
he has accompanied his regiment to Pal-
estine and led a charge against the Hittites
in his chariot. On another occasion he
sailed down the Red Sea to Punt, on the
East African coast, to obtain spices and
gold for the Temple of Ammon. He is
also well educated and in his library has
books of tales and poetry, works on medi-
cine and mathematics, all written on rolls
of papyrus — paper made from a kind of
reed.

By far the most interesting part of his
life, so the noble tells us, was the period

when he was at court in attendance upon
the Pharaoh Rameses H. He describes an
audience to us. The monarch, seated on
his golden throne, wore a double crown, to
show that he was king both of Lower and
Upper Egypt. On his forehead was the
royal golden cobra, the uraeus. Near him
was his eldest son Khamuast, an able
statesman, a priest, and, so it is said, a
great magician. His Majesty's Libyan
guards, armed with their double-edged
swords, were posted about the palace.

Attending the Great Pharaoh

A messenger from Palestine arrived
and was admitted to the audience cham-
ber. He and the councilors assumed at-
titudes of worship when they came into
the king's presence since they regarded
him as the descendant of a god and him-
self a demigod. Kneeling, with their
faces close to the floor, they gave him
their news and heard his answer. Another
messenger came to tell Rameses that there
was a famine in some distant province;
yet another brought word of a convoy of
gold that was on its way from Ethiopia.

We ask the noble to tell us more of
Rameses H and he agrees willingly. Ram-
eses, while still a boy, had been associated
with his father Seti I in the government
of Egypt. When only ten years old, he
was sent to the wars in Syria and a little
later went to subdue the turbulent tribes
of the lands watered by the upper Nile.
This he did successfully. Rameses was
a great warrior and after he became
Pharaoh led an army against the Hittites
in Syria. The chariots were under his
own command, and by his bravery he suc-
ceeded in turning the battle of Kadesh
from a defeat into a victory.

Prosperous Reign of Rameses U

Much of his vast wealth was spent on
building operations. As well as raising
huge temples, he had the irrigation canals
of the Nile delta repaired and extended
and established caravan stations along the
route to Ethiopia. Rameses was one of
the greatest of the Pharaohs. Egypt was
peaceable under him : the people were
prosperous and the police efficient.

The Sphinx and the Pyramid

Two Mighty Monuments of Bygone Ages

In another chapter we may read of the marvels of ancient Egypt with the
exception of two that are perhaps the most fascinating — the Great Pyramid
and the Sphinx, The oldest example of a sphinx is the Great Sphinx at
Gizeh, which is 189 feet long. But the sphinx was not peculiar to Egypt for,
as we shall read in this chapter, there were also Greek and Assyrian sphinxes
which, however, difYered greatly from those of Egypt. The pyramids also
are not confined to Egypt for gigantic monuments of this type are to be found
in the Sudan, in Algeria and even in Mexico. The largest of these monu-
mental structures is the Great Pyramid of Gizeh which is the sole survivor
of the "Seven Wonders of the World."

FROM the Nile at Gizeh we may see,
dark against the cloudless sky of
Egypt, three immense tombs like
shapely mountain peaks built in the desert
by man. If we approach them, we find
near by a huge battered monster of stone.
It is to this group of remains that we
usually refer when we speak of the Pyra-
mids and the Sphinx. But there are
other pyramids and other sphinxes which,
though perhaps less famous, are not less
interesting. These are to be found not
only in Egypt, but also in lands thousands
of miles across the seas.

Sphinx" is a Greek word which means
the "throttler." It was used to designate
a terrible being which had, so it was said,
the head of a woman, the body of a lioness
and wings. According to the ancient leg-
end, she originally lived in Africa, but
was sent by the gods to Thebes in Greece
to punish the sins of a Theban ruler. Tak-
ing a rock near the city for her abode, she
asked every passer-by a riddle. ''What
walks on four legs in the morning," she
would demand, ''on two at noon and on
three in the evening?"

All who could not guess were devoured,
and everyone failed until Qidipus came.
He was able to tell the Sphinx that the
answer was, "A man" ; because, as a baby,
he crawls on hands and knees, in the prime
of life he walks upright, and when old age
makes him feeble he can only progress
with the help of a stick or crutch. Since
her riddle had been solved, the Sphinx
threw herself from her rock and the
Thebans were never troubled by her again.

Thus we see that the Greeks believed
their Sphinx to be an evil monster prey-
ing upon mankind. When they came to
Egypt and there saw huge carved figures
that were half-beast and half-human, they
called these sphinxes too. But although
it was at one time thought by the Egyp-
tians that sphinxes roamed the deserts,
they were more generally accepted as
symbols of the grandeur and power of the
Pharaohs. Their most notable character-
istic was their superhuman dignity. Their
bodies, made like those of lions, represent
might and nobility, and their heads are
usually portraits of ancient kings. Some-
times, instead of having a man's head,
they had that of a ram like those at Kar-
nak, and there are some that were made
with the head of a hawk. To the Egyp-
tian this did not detract from their dignity
for a ram was emblematic of the great
god Ammon, whom they worshiped, and
a hawk was symbolical of the king as a
warrior.

It might be asked here : What is a
sphinx, since it had all these forms? It
is not merely a monster with a body that
is partly beast and partly man. A mer-
maid is not a sphinx, for example ; nor
are the winged bulls with the heads of
bearded men that we find in Mesopo-
tamia ; nor is the Hindu god Ganesha, who
is represented as having a man's body but
an elephant's head. We may take it as
definite that true sphinxes have a lion's
or a lioness's body and a head which is
either a portrait or symbol of a human
being or god. Whatever other character-

THE GREAT SPHINX at Gwxh i> liic n.ur.M auu musi lamous of all sphinM'-. li i.^ prob-
ably the oldest statue in the world, but no one knows exactly when it was carved, or which
Pharaoh the huge head represents. It is thought to be a portrait of King Khafra, or Chephren,
who built the Second Pyramid, seen on the right. He lived about 5,000 years ago.

AN ALABASTER SPHINX, almost perfectly preserved, was discovered in 1^12 on ihe site
of the ancient city of Memphis. It was probably carved about 1240 B. C. during the reign
of Rameses II. The sphinxes were given their name by the Greeks, quite incorrectly as it
happens for the Greek sphinx is a demon and not, like the Egyptian, an emblem of majesty.

British Museum

THE GREEK SPHINX HAS WINGS AND A WOMAN'S HEAD

The Egyptian sphinx is always male and wingless ; the Greek sphinx is female with the body
of a lion and the wings of a bird. According to an old Greek legend the Muses had taught
her a riddle which the Thebans must answer. All who could not solve it were carried off to
be eaten. When CEdipus gave the correct answer, she killed herself by falling from a rock.

istics they may have are purely incidental.
So we vi^ould not consider the kneeling
rams found in Egypt as sphinxes, al-
though in appearance they closely re-
semble them.

The great sphinx at Gizeh, which has
been mentioned already, is the most cele-
brated of its kind. For centuries it has
been considered a thing of awful mys-
tery. Indeed, it was once thought, quite

wrongly, to be an idol of such im-
portance that Arab invaders, in their de-
sire to spread Mohammedanism and to
do away with all other kinds of worship,
deliberately disfigured it. But in spite of
their fanatical efforts at destruction and
of the ravages of time, the sphinx is still
beautiful, and its size makes it extremely
impressive.

At Karnak we may see long avenues

Petrie

GREAT SPHINX AND GREAT PYRAMID: TWO WONDERS OF THE WORLD

The Sphinx, here seen across the entrance temple to the Second P3Tamid, is cracked and
damaged and half buried in sand. In 1Q25 its neck was strengthened, some of the cracks
were filled up, and the sand was cleared away so that its great paws were visible. This
excavating has been done before, but the shifting sand always covers them again.

SIR FLINDERS PETRIE

ATMEDUM, on the desert's edge, forty miles south of Cairo, is the queerly shaped pyra-
mid of King Sneferu. It rises in three tiers from a mound that is really another tier
covered with debris. Most likely it was once a true pyramid in shape. King Sneferu built
for himself another pyramid at Dashur, but it was probably in this one that he was buried.

MCLEISH

THE GREAT PYRAMID was built as the tomb of one of the greatest of the Pharaohs,
Khufu or Cheops. Dimly, in the side nearest to us, we can see the opening that leads into
the small chambers within which the ruler and his queen were entombed. The Great Pyramid
is an impressive sight, whether seen by moonlight or by dayhght, at dawn or, as here, at sunset.

THE SPHINX AND THE PYRAMID

lined with sphinxes. Some, as we have
already said, have the heads of rams;
others are like representations in minia-
ture of the sphinx at Gizeh. All are won-
derfully wrought. Splendid indeed must
have been the effect when the rows were
complete and the shapely figures were yet
unspoiled by weather and hard treatment.
One of the most beautiful sphinxes ever
discovered is that which stands on the site
of the old city of Memphis. It is of ala-
baster and is extraordinarily well pre-
served, so that we may study the grace
of its lines and the serene and kingly ex-
pression on its face.

Sphinxes of Other Lands

The ancient Assyrians also had
sphinxes, but like the Greeks represented
them as having wings and considered
them to be demons. Although they have
lions' bodies, these creatures are far from
being noble or stately. Their faces are
incredibly foolish for they have great star-
ing eyes and are usually smirking. Those
of the Hittites, who lived in Asia Minor,
are more ferocious in appearance but are
stiff and conventional. Some have two
heads, and they resemble an ordinary lion
to which a human head has been given in
addition to its own.

In Central America, among the carvings
of the ancient Maya peoples, are some
monsters that are not unlike sphinxes.
We see, therefore, in how many different
lands the conception of this strange
type of imaginary creature met with
acceptance.

Let us now turn to the Pyramids.
Pyramids were usually erected to glorify
the dead. In prehistoric times, the people
undoubtedly marked the graves of their
dead with poles and brushwood and pos-
sibly a covering of loose stones. Later,
these rude constructions developed into
the Pyramids, which were elaborate
monuments built over burial places. In
the majority of cases, the bodies were
placed deep in the earth beneath them and
not in the heart of the structure as one
might suppose. Some of the chambers
above were used as a storehouse for
things the deceased might need hereafter.

The Famous Pyramids of Egypt

The Egyptian pyramids are the most
famous. They were the tombs of kings
and sometimes of queens and other im-
portant persons. Most have the perfect,
symmetrical form of those at Gizeh. In
others we see a series of great "steps" as-
cending to the summit. This type is con-
structed of several lofty tiers of masonry,
each of which is smaller than the one im-
mediately below it. The most interesting
example is the pyramid of King Zoser at
Sakkara, which is especially worthy of
note, because it is probably the earliest
that still survives. It is almost six thou-
sand years old. Another very ancient
tomb, the pyramid of Sneferu at Medum,
which we see on page 84, is constructed
on a somewhat similar plan.

The pyramids were usually of stone,
though a few built of bricks are still to
be seen. These are generally of com-
paratively recent date and, like that at
Dashur, are in a ruinous condition. The
sizes of the pyramids vary. There are
examples small enough to be almost in-
significant, and there are immense struc-
tures like those at Gizeh.

Everyone has heard of these three won-
derful monuments, and an infinite variety
of fantastic theories as to their purpose
has been advanced. Actually, however,
the smallest is the burial place of King
Menkaura, the medium-sized one that of
King Khafra and the largest that of King
Khufu. The smallest is also the most
modern, but it is nearly five thousand
years old.

Within the Great Pyramid

Let us visit the pyramid of Khufu — the
Great Pyramid, as it is called to distin-
guish it from its neighbors. Although
from a distance its sides appear even and
unbroken, when we approach it we see
that it is composed of vast blocks of
stone, most of them higher than a man
and some weighing many tons. Imagine
the work it must have been to bring over
two million blocks by boat across the Nile,
then to have transported them, probably
along greased roads, and to have placed

THE SPHINX AND THE PYRAMID

them in position by means of pulleys and
ropes. And so accurately was it done that
the base lacks but a fraction of an inch
of being a perfect square. Such was the
engineering skill of the early Egyptians.
Each of its sides measures about 755
feet, and its height is about 451 feet. But
these bare measurements give little idea
of its majesty — it is one of the most mag-
nificent tombs in the world.

Now, as has been stated, the burial
chamber was usually underground, be-
neath the pyramid. There is such an
apartment below the Great Pyramid, but
it is unfinished, and the real burial place is
within the colossal mass of masonry. If
we enter the passage which opens upon
the north face of the pyramid, we ascend
for some distance before we come to the
grand gallery, from which, turning south-
ward, we can reach the so-called Queen's
chamber. If instead we continue to climb,
however, we reach an antechamber and
then the King's chamber.

In it is a huge empty sarcophagus,
carved from a solid block of granite. In-
deed, one of the few disappointing fea-
tures of the Great Pyramid is the fact
that it contains so little. It was entered
ages ago by tomb robbers. The King's
chamber is ventilated by channels leading
to the open air.

Other ancient peoples must have been
profoundly impressed with the desir-
ability of pyramids as tombs. In the Su-
dan, as we show on page 89, small va-
rieties are found, while in Algeria there
are large tombs which have obviously
been evolved from Egyptian pyramids.

In America there are also many pyra-
mids, but these were constructed for en-
tirely different purposes. The Mayas set
temples upon them, and thus gave an ap-
pearance of importance and stateliness to
their religious buildings. In Mexico there
is one massive structure, the pyramid of
the Sun at San Juan Teotihuacan, that
almost equals those of Egypt in size. It
is built of adobe and is faced with stone
and stucco. There are also many that are
smaller, but very elaborately finished. All
are more squat than the Egyptian pyra-
mids and have steps to their summits.

The Gift of the Nile

How Men Live To-day in Fertile Egypt

Of the marvels of ancient Egypt we have already learned in an earlier chapter.
Now we are to read of the modern Egyptians. Like most fertile lands, Egypt
has suffered from many invasions. During the 5,500 years in which we can
trace its history, countless periods of foreign domination have occurred, yet
many of the native inhabitants of the Nile delta and valley are of the same
people as those who were the subjects of the Pharaohs. In 1922, after it had
been a British protectorate for eight years and had prospered exceedingly,
Egypt once again became an independent state. Given wise government, how-
ever, the future of the country would appear to be full of promise.

IF we look at a map we shall see that
the wonderful country of Eg>'pt is an
oblong piece of land with the Nile
River running through its centre like a
backbone. We shall see that the Medi-
terranean forms the northern boundary
and the Arabian desert and the Red Sea
the eastern, while on the south is the
Sudan and on the west the Libyan desert.
The Nile, most famous of rivers, flows
northward in a narrow valley which, in
the course of ages, it has carved for itself
in the rock of the desert.

The White Nile brings down mud and
silt while the Blue Nile, which joins it at
Khartum in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan,
brings down so much water at one time
of the year that it causes the united rivers
to overflow their valley. When the waters
subside, however, there is left a covering
of rich black mud. The mud which has
been deposited at the mouth of the Nile
where it runs into the still waters of the
Mediterranean, has gradually formed the
Delta, known as Lower Egypt, and
the narrow valley of the Nile is known as
Tapper Egypt. These two constitute the
Egypt of history — the land which has
been called the Gift of the Nile. They
form only about one-twenty-sixth of the
whole area that is modern Egypt. The
rest is desert and, save for a few oases,
uninhabitable and useless.

We have read of ancient Egy]:)t and
know that the country fell into the hands
of the Romans in 30 r,.c. There it re-
mained for nearly seven hundred years
when the Arabs invaded Egypt in the in-
terests of Islam. This land became a part
of their territory and it so prospered that

the magnificence of court life rivaled even
that of the Pharaohs. In 15 17, however,
Selim I, ruler of the Ottoman Empire,
having conquered Syria and Palestine,
came down into Egypt and had himself
declared sultan.

Egypt was from then governed as a
Turkish province directly under the
Mamelukes, who, although subject to
the Ottoman Empire, had considerable
power. They lived most extravagantly so
that there was little revenue for the im-
provement of the country and naturally it
suffered exceedingly.

Impoverished, indeed. Napoleon found
it when in 1798 he invaded it for the pur-
pose of using it as a base for the conquest
of India. His occupation of Egypt was
not of long duration, however, for in
1 80 1 he was forced to surrender to the
British, and the British themselves stayed
but two years longer.

There came to power about this time
an Albanian, Mehemet Ali, who had
come to Egypt originally to help the
Turks against Napoleon. After the evac-
uation of the foreign armies, he sought
to strengthen his power by siding first
with the Turks and then with the Mame-
lukes. The Turks appointed him ruler of
Egypt whereupon he rid the country
of the Mamelukes by one of the most
treacherous massacres known to history.
The wily Mehemet Ali then consoli-
dated his army and invaded Arabia, Pal-
estine, Syria and portions of Asia Minor.
The defeat of the Turks resulted in his
1)eing given hereditary authority over
Egypt, under the suzerainty of the Otto-
man Empire, however. Then he set about

EGYPT AND THE NILE: A CONTRAST OF DESERT AND TOWN

improving the condition of his newly-
won domain and did a great deal toward
bringing it back to prosperity.

Egypt again fell into troublous times
under Ismail, grandson of Mehemet
Ali, for he was very extravagant. To
pay for his luxurious tastes, he sold a
large number of Suez Canal shares to the
British government and incurred such a
large public debt that foreign govern-
ments forced an investigation. Egypt
was found to be in a state bordering on
bankruptcy. Taking advantage of this
state of affairs, the sultan of Turkey de-
cided to oust Ismail and to appoint Tew-
fik, his son, as "khedive," although Ismail
had paid a very large sum for this very
title.

In 1882, Egypt had more difficulties
for an Arab revolt, seemingly directed

against foreigners, broke out. As the
sultan seemed not anxious to interfere.
Great Britain took a hand and then
organized a government.

Of the people who made history in this
land we already know, but what manner
of people inherit it to-day ? Are they the
descendants of the Egyptians of old or
have successive invasions wiped out that
mighty race? The answer is that while
the kings, priests and nobles disappeared,
the peasantry remained, usually as slaves,
to till the fruitful soil whose crops made
the country so rich. Of the fourteen mil-
lions inhabiting Egypt to-day, many of
them are "fellahin," or agriculturists, and
many of these are the descendants of the
old race, as are the Christian Copts.

Christianity spread early to Egypt, but
when the Saracens conquered the land in

THE GIFT OF THE NILE

the seventh century a.d., most of the
Egyptians were converted to the new
Mohammedan religion, so the fella-
hin are almost entirely Mohammedans.
Those remaining Christians formed a
small body which now numbers about
800,000, the members of which are known
as Copts. The Copts live mostly in the
towns, and are skilled goldsmiths, watch-
makers and tailors. Unlike the Moham-
medans, a Copt has only one wife. Coptic
women usually appear in the streets in
flowing garments, with gold necklaces,
bracelets and long black silk veils, al-
though the veils are not worn over the
face in Moslem fashion.

A railway now runs south as far as
Assuan, but by far the most interesting
way to see Upper Egypt is to go by the
old highway — the river. The water of the
Nile is brown. Brown, too, are the slender

well-formed fellahin whom we may see
working in the fields all along the valley,
using plows such as their forefathers
had four thousand years ago and raising
the water by means of the shaduf , as they
did at the time of the Exodus. The shaduf
is fully described on page 95.

Another way of raising water is by
means of a wheel turned by a blindfolded
buffalo, camel or donkey in charge of a
small boy, for among the fellahin even
the children must work in order that the
land, wherever possible, shall bear three
crops a year. Clover is grown to feed
the animals, and corn and wheat to feed
the people. Cotton is cultivated for ex-
port ; sugar-making is also a big industry,
and beyond Minia, about 170 miles south
of Cairo, fields of the greenish-purple
sugar-cane extend for miles and miles.

In every town in Egypt we ma}^ see

e E X. A.

LOW-LYING FIELDS OF THE NILE DELTA AKE E.ASILY WATERED

The Nile delta produces great crops of cotton and rice, and is watered all the year round
by means of numerous canals which are filled by the river. To raise water to fields that
3re not more than five feet above the level of the river, the fellah uses the Archimedean
screw, This device is believed to have been invented by the Greek, .^rchimed^g;,

McLeish

PRECIOUS NILE WATER SLOWLY BROUGHT TO THE THIRSTY LAND

The Egyptians have an antiquated machine, called a shaduf, for raising water. It consists
of a frame on which a long pole is suspended. At one end of the pole is a bucket and at
the other a weight. It is of great value to the farmer in carrying water from river or canal
to the level of his fields. Where the bank is high, several shadufs are erected.

THE GIFT OF THE NILE

men sitting at the street corners beside a
stack of sugar-canes which are broken ofif
and sold as candy. Many other crops are
grown besides excellent fruit and vege-
tables, and graceful feathery-leaved date-
palms, with their bunches of golden dates,
are to be seen everywhere.

Houses of the Villagers

Dotted here and there are the villages
with the white domes of the mosques tow-
ering above the houses. These dwellings
are built of either mud and wattle or of
mud bricks, as wood is scarce. Each little
house — they often contain only one or
two rooms — has a tiny courtyard in front
where the animals are kept and where the
cooking is done. At the entrance to many
of the villages are two mud towers which
are shaped like temple pylons. These are
for the pigeons, which are kept as much
for their dung as for their flesh, for cakes
of dried dung are used to keep the fires
burning.

Inside the courtyard we can see some-
thing that looks like a high, wide font
made of mud. This serves many pur-
poses. It is used to keep fodder out of
the reach of the animals, to keep the ba-
bies out of the reach of scorpions when
the mother is busy and, in the hottest
weather, it may serve as a sleeping place
for the family. In cool weather the whole
family and the animals sleep together in
the dark airless house.

Along the Nile to the Great Dam

The towns on the Nile are all interest-
ing in various ways. In Assuit is the
American College established by Pres-
byterian missionaries, the graduates of
which are in great demand as government
employees, and also we may see here the
famous shawls made by clipping pieces
of gold or silver tape to black or white
netting. Kena, farther south, is a centre
for the manufacture of pottery.

Many of the Nile towns owe their pros-
perity to the fact that they are favorite
stopping places for tourists. Luxor is
large and flourishing, not only because it
is a sunny health resort, but because of
its situation in the heart of ancient Egypt.

Here, where the valley broadens out, once
stood Thebes, the city with a hundred
gates, the metropolis of Egypt for four
centuries, about which we read in the
chapter Egypt's Wonders of the Past.

Assuan, which is situated close to the
First Cataract on the Nile, has always
been important. Here started the cara-
vans that traveled over the Libyan Desert
and right across North Africa ; here, too,
was quarried the red stone which was used
by the ancient Egyptians for their statues
and temples. Now Assuan is a health
resort with fashionable hotels, but its
]:)rincipal interest lies in the Great Dam.
This dam is a solid piece of masonry a
mile and a quarter in length, which ex-
tends across the river. By closing its
1 80 water gates as required, the waters
are held back until they form a great lake,
thus saving the land from disastrous
floods, while the opening of the gates
later on prevents drought and famine.

People of Upper Egypt

The people become darker-complex-
ioned as we go farther south, and from
Assuan to the border of Egypt at Wadi
Haifa, the people vary from light coffee
color to black. In the extreme south we
shall find the dark negro-like Nubians.
Their little villages and towns are better
built and cleaner than those lower down
the river, and the people themselves are
intelligent and very interesting. The
men wear the ''galabeah," a long dark
blue cotton gown, and usually a white
turban. The women are fond of adorn-
ing themselves with elaborate silver
jewelry.

Owing to the fact that for hundreds
of miles it receives no tributary, and that
it is being used all the time for irrigating
the land, the Nile, which is a mile wide
at Khartum, has shrunk considerably by
the time it reaches Cairo. Below the city
it enters the Delta, where the water is
diverted into three large canals which
feed a network of smaller ones.

The Delta is the most fertile part of
Egypt and, in order to give as much land
as possible to the cultivation of the cotton
plant, the teeming population is terribly

<n
J
W
%
<

Q
W
H
<

a:
O
u

O
D

TD 13 3^

0 bC O .-k-"

u ^ g 1=;

i -I

^ t« O t/)
, P c3

1 § sf^

S §^ S

O C J_ CvJ

^' c P C

c3 >> t^-r:

^ u <u

•4-> n

03 c« > C

— . 4^ flj W3

^•C £ o

U <U >_

c3 O.
j_ 03

I p S
" >•

Mcl.eish

ASSUAN, ONCE A TRADING CENTRE FOR THE SUDAN AND ABYSSINIA

Assuan is situated on the right bank of the Nile near the First Cataract, and not far from
the town are the quarries whence the Egyptians obtained material for their temples and
monuments. Three miles to the south of Assuan is the great dam across the Nile, by means
of which a regular supply of water can be furnished to the thirsty land when the river is low.

100

THE GIFT OF THE NILE

crowded together. The villages are so
packed with people that often the goats
and the chickens spend their time amid
the refuse on the roofs. In September
and October, when the cotton is ready for
picking, all the people work in the fields.
The pickers stuff the cotton into the neck
of their outer garment, which they have
made into a pouch by tying it tightly at
the waist. When the pouch is absolutely
full they walk to the collecting ground,

untie the waist cord and let the cotton
fall to the ground.

All the cotton is exported by way of
Alexandria. This city, with its large har-
bor and fine new buildings, is about half
the size of Cairo, but it is less Eastern
in appearance. Modern hotels, as well
equipped as those of New York, help to
make the tourists comfortable while street
cars, automobiles, electric lights and
theatres make it seem hardly possible

Cutler

HOW BUTTER IS MADE BY EGYPTIAN PEASANT WOMEN

Suspended by a long rope from the broken trunk of a date palm, the goatskin churn is
swayed backward and forward. This niethod of butter-making is a very lengthy one, but
the dair}'maid is possessed of the infinite patience of most Eastern races. The goatskin
imparts a peculiar taste to the butter which is most unpleasant to foreign palates.

101

102

(Q Cutler

MEAT MARKET IN THE LITTLE VILLAGE OF BEDRASHIEN

Wooden frames serve as display racks for meat in this little village in Egypt. The fact
that the meat is open to blown sand and numerous flies does not concern the Egyptian
for he is not particular in these respects. The peasants do not eat meat as a rule except
during religious festivals or at such ceremonies as weddings.

that such a modern-looking place could
have been founded over 2.000 years ago,
A great many Europeans, especially
Greeks, live here. Greeks are found liv-
ing in all the Egyptian towns as mer-
chants, shopkeepers, or money-lenders, but
Italians, Armenians, Jews and, of course,
Turks, Frenchmen and British, all go to
swell the mixed population of the larger
towns.

]\Iost tourists who visited Egypt in for-
mer times landed at Alexandria but now
many ships stop at Port Said on the east-
ern point of the Delta. Not more than
fifty years ago, Port Said was only a small
town but now it is the third largest city

in Egypt, due to the fact that it stands at
the entrance to the Suez Canal. Suez, at
the other end of the canal, has increased
greatly for the same reason.

The Suez Canal, which unites the
Mediterranean with the Red Sea, was
built by French engineers under Fer-
dinand de Lesseps and was formally
opened in 1869 with gorgeous festivities.
The idea of connecting these two water-
ways did not originate with the people of
the modern era as one might suppose since
it was completed in comparatively recent
times. An inscription on the temple at
Karnak shows that the canal existed be-
tween the Nile and the Red Sea probably

103

THE GIFT OF THE NILE

as early as 1380 B.C. If it was impor-
tant then, how much more important it is
to-day, for without it the ships that ply
between the western and eastern ports
would have to make their way around the
vast continent of Africa, thus adding sev-
eral thousand miles to the voyage and
many days as well.

Tanta, which is situated in the centre
of the Delta, is celebrated as the burial
place of a certain holy man, Sidi Ahmed
el Bedawi, and for the fair which is held
there annually in his honor. This fair
lasts a week, and to it, from all over Up-
per as well as Lower Egypt, come the
fellahin — men, women and children — by
road and by rail, on foot, on donkeys and
on camels.

The desert, which forms so large a part
of Egypt, lies on both sides of the Nile
Valley. That part to the east is a rocky
waste and was once famed for its min-
erals. It was there that the ancient Egyp-
tians got much of their gold. The Sinai
Peninsula is another mineral-bearing re-

gion. The western, or Libyan, desert is
a rocky plateau, where the winds are for-
ever shifting the sands. Beduins roam
these deserts, but as time passes more and
more of these people are ceasing to be
nomadic, and are settling down with their
tents and their animals on the outskirts
of the Nile Valley. In the western desert
are several oases. That of Kharga grows
enough food to support its inhabitants
and is noted for its grapes and oranges.

When the World War began, the reign-
ing khedive favored Turkey, so the Brit-
ish government promptly declared a pro-
tectorate over Egypt. In 1922, however,
it was recognized as an independent state
although Great Britain reserved certain
rights regarding defense and interference
of foreign powers. A cabinet was formed
and a new constitution drawn up and for
the first time in Egyptian history the title
of king was given to its monarch. King
Fuad is not without his troubles, for i^o-
litical parties and internal strife have kept
this new kingdom in a state of turmoil.

EGYPT: FACTS AND FIGURES

7 HE COUNTRY

Bounded on the north by the Mediterranean,
on the east by Palestine, the Gulf of Akaba
and the Red Sea, on the south by the Anglo-
Egyptian Sudan and on the west by Tripoli.
The area including the Libyan Desert, the
region between the Nile and the Red Sea and
the Sinai Peninsula is 383,000 square miles ;
the population is 14,186,898 (1927 census) ; the
cultivated area of the Nile Valley, Delta and
Oases is only 13,574 square miles.

GOVERNMENT AND CONSTITUTION

Independent sovereign state with special re-
lations to Great Britain because of the im-
portance of British interests in the Sudan and
in the Suez Canal. There is a king and a
cabinet and a legislative assembly consisting
of two houses. The country is divided into
14 provinces subdivided into districts. In 1928
the constitution was suspended for 3 years
and the king rules as an absolute monarch.

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES

About 62% of the population are engaged
in agriculture which is almost entirely de-
pendent on irrigation. Grain, cotton, heans
and sugar are the important products. Mineral
products include phosphate rock, petroleum,
manganese, iron ore. Minerals existing there
are alum, copper ore, beryl, granite and sul-
phur. Exports are raw cotton, cottonseed.

onions, gold and silver bullion. Imports are
tobacco leaf, flour, rice, iron and steel manu-
factures, coal, fertilizer and textiles.

COMMUNICATIONS

The Nile is the great highway and much
traveling is done by boat. The railways, state-
owned, have a mileage of 2,272; private com-
panies own over 854 miles of light railways.
Length of telephone wire, 131,860 miles; tele-
graph wire, 32,657 miles. In addition, 1,256
miles of telegraph wire is operated by a
private company. There are 3.646 post offices
and stations, and regular air mail service. The
Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean and
the Red Sea. Length 103 miles.

RELIGION AND EDUCATION

Aloslems form over 919^ of the population.
In addition to Moslem mosques and uni-
versities at Cairo, Tanta. Damietta, Dessuqi
(Dessuq), Assuit and Alexandria under the
control of the Council of the University of
Fl Azhar at Cairo, there are primary, second-
ary and special schools. There is also a state
tmiversity.

CHIEF TOWNS

Cairo, capital, population, 1,064.567: Alex-
andria, 573.063; Port Said, 104,603; Tanta.
90.014; Mansura. 63.676; .Assuit, 51. 13-2;
Fayum, 52,37^; Zagazig, 52,351.

104

E. N. W. Slarks

The Color of Cairo

Life and Glamor of Egypt^s Historic Capital

THERE is a thrill in our first sight of
Egypt. We know what an ancient
country it is and we are anxious to
set foot upon the land which has seen so
many thousands of years of interesting
life. A glistening white city first meets
our gaze. That is Alexandria.

We shall not loiter at Alexandria.
Somewhere beyond, on the banks of the
Nile, lies the city of a thousand dreams,
where from a cloudless sky the sun shines
down upon all the races of mankind — for
Cairo is a Tower of Babel if ever there
was one — and upon such strange build-

ings as are only to be found in Eastern
cities.

x^lready, gazing from the windows of
the train that takes us from Alexandria
to Cairo, we feel the spell of Egypt. Here
are the palms, the green plains, the groups
of dusky Egyptians, the string of camels
and the sad, mouse-colored donkeys.

We are eager for the sight of Cairo,
but when at last we really do see it — well,
it is at first rather disappointing. A
railway station is always a sad afifair,
even such an attractive railway station
as Cairo's, and the way thence to the

105

ALL CAIRO SEEMS AT

Donald McLeish
YOUR FEET FROM THE MOKATTAM HILLS

The finest view of Cairo is had from the Mokattam hills, which lie outside the city to the
east. Immediately below us is the Citadel and its mosque, the central dome of which is
flanked by two thin, pointed towers called minarets. This part dates from the year 1827;
some of the outer walls were built by Saladin, who fought Richard Coeur de Lion.

hotel is not as a rule very much better.
So it is w^ith Cairo. We must wait a
little while before we find the city for the
fulfilment of our dreams.

While we are waiting let us glance at
Cairo's history. It is not so ancient an
history as many people think. The Pha-
raohs, Egypt's ancient rulers, had been

dead many years and the Pyramids were
very old when the site of Cairo was merely
waste land and sown fields extending from
the Nile to the Mokattam hills. As far
as it is possible to judge there were no
buildings there except a couple of for-
tresses up to the year 641, when the
Commander-in-Chief of the armies of

106

II 1 till

ENTRANCE TO THE COURTYARD OF THE MOSQUE IN THE CITADEL

We have seen what the Citadel looks like from the top of a hill and now we are in the actual
courtyard of the mosque itself. It is called the Alabaster Mosque because of the material
of which most of it is built. Mehemet Ali, the "Napoleon of Egypt," had it constructed after
capturing the fortress by placing cannons on the Mokattam hills and firing over the walls.

the victorious Caliph Omar captured the
Roman fortresses and built a town, v^hich
he called Al Fustat. This v^as the first
Mohammedan capital of Egypt.

Fustat, in Arabic, means "tent," and
this is the story the Arabs tell as to how
the name came about. When the victo-
rious general marched north to capture

Alexandria he left his tent standing be-
cause he refused to disturb the doves that
had commenced building there. On his
return from the conquest of Alexandria
he commanded his army to build their
quarters around his tent which was still
standing. From that fact the new settle-
ment, which was the first Arab city of

107

108

DONALD MCLEISH

THE WATER SELLER with his goat skin bottle and brass cup is one of the commonest
sights although waterworks now supply most houses, and here and there one can see a public
drinking pipe jutting from a wall. The people still continue the old way of doing things.
A squeeze from the water seller's elbow sends a jet of cool water from the shining nozzle.

109

Major Claud V. N. Percival

CAIRO HONORS THE HOLY CARPET ON ITS WAY TO MECCA

Every year thousands of Mohammedans make the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, in
Arabia, for it is the duty of every follower of the Prophet to go there at least once in his life-
time. The most sacred shrine of Mecca is called the Ka'ba, and it is always covered with a
sacred carpet. This carpet is renewed annually and carried with great ceremony from Cairo.

110

F. W. Willis

CANOPY THAT GOES WITH THE HOLY CARPET TO MECCA

With the caravan bearing the holy carpet to Mecca goes this wonderful canopy called the
Mahmal. It is made of wood covered with rich stuffs and ornamented with superb em-
broidery. But there is nothing inside it — it is simply a symbol of royalty. When the new
carpet has been taken to Mecca the Mahmal is brought back with the old one.

Ill

IN CAIRO BAZAARS the way is blocked with donkeys and mules, carts and carriages,
besides the crowds of Egyptians, Arabs, Jews, Syrians and a sprinkling of European tourists.
There is always a pandemonium caused by the shouting of the coachmen and camel drivers, as
they try to clear the way, and by the haggling in the shops. Awnings above the crowd give shade.

112

& E. N. A.

MOSQUE EL AZHAR, known as "the splendid," which can be seen at the end of the street,
was converted into a university nearly a thousand years ago. Students come from all parts
of the Moslem world to gain knowledge of the Koran. The enrollment is over ten thousand.
Their ages range from fifteen to seventy-five for, indeed, some spend their lives here.

113

Donald McLeish

MINARETS ABOVE ONE OF THE OLD CITY GATEWAYS

In this street a row of tumbledown houses hides one of Cairo's most beautiful mosques, the
Mosque of El Muayyad. It was completed in 1422. The two tall minarets are seen rising
above the southern gate of the old Fatimate city, called the Bab Zuweila. Fatima was one
of Mohammed's daughters, and the caliphs descended from her are called Fatimate.

114

THE COLOR OF CAIRO

Egypt, came to be known as Al Fustat,
"The Tent."

Fustat soon became quite an important
settlement with mosques, palaces, bar-
racks and the dwellings of an Eastern
capital. The summer palace, where the
emirs of Egypt often resorted to enjoy
the cool breeze, stood on a spur of the
Mokattam hills where the Citadel now
stands, and another magnificent palace
had been built by Ibn Tulun in the Royal
suburb of Al-Kata'i.

In 969 a new Arab conqueror came
down into Egypt. He captured Eustat
and laid the foundations of a new city. It
is said that on a clear August night he
marked out the boundaries of his new city
on the sandy waste which stretched north-

east of Eustat, and a square about a mile
each way was pegged out with poles. Each
pole was joined by a rope on which bells
were hung, and it was arranged that at
the moment when the astrologers gave the
signal that the lucky moment had arrived,
the first sods were to be turned.

\Miile the workmen were awaiting the
signal a raven perched on one of the
ropes and set the bells tinkling merrily.
Straightway every workman thrust his
spade in the earth and began to dig. At
this moment the planet Mars, which the
Arabs call Al-Kahir, was above the hori-
zon, and although this was looked upon
as a bad omen, the raven's signal could
not be ignored. The new city was called
after the planet Mars, ''Kahirah" — mean-

Donald McLeish

AN EXAMINATION IN THE MOSQUE OF EL MERDANI

Moslem students are chiefly concerned with learning all their work by heart. In this
photograph a number of them are working at an examination. Everyone sits with seeming
discomfort on the floor, for there are no chairs, and each has his pot of ink in front of
him. This mosque was built by the cup-bearer to the Sultan En-Nasir about 1340-

115

DONALD MCLEISH

BLUE PORCELAIN fashioned into tiles makes this one of the loveHest of mosques and
has given it the name of "the Blue." The tiles are arranged on the eastern wall of the
Liwan, or sanctuary, which the visitor sees from the palm court. There are patterns of
exquisite design. "Blue Mosque," or Ibrahim Agha Mosque, is situated near the Wczir Gate.

116

TALL MINARETS, standing up against the sky, surround us on all sides if we climb up
to the flat roofs of any of the houses in the centre of the city. From the doorways opening
out on the galleries of these towers, officials, called "muezzins'', appear five times every day —
at dawn, noon, four o'clock, sundown and midnight — to call the Faithful to prayer.

117

McLeish

IN CAIRO, SWEET HERBS ARE HAWKED FROM DOOR TO DOOR

The man, in Egypt, who will bring round his goods to the door is sure to find customers, for
there it is so hot that most housewives are glad to be saved a journey into the crowded
market. The girl to whom this hawker is trying to sell sweet herbs is not a Mohammedan
or she would not let a man see her unveiled. The sculptured doorway is typical of Cairo.

118

E. N. A.

BERBER PEDDLERS WITH BEAD NECKLACES AND FLY-WHISKS

In making a bargain with a Cairo huckster the buyer must have endless patience and
considerable skill. The argument about the price of each article is enjoyed not only by
the peddler himself, but equally by a crowd of spectators, who are always ready to gather
round and watch a battle of wits. The Berber race is spread across North Africa.

ing "the victorious" — and out of this v^e
have derived the modern Cairo.

Thus v^as founded the great City of the
Caliphs, of which it presently came to be
written: "He who hath not seen Cairo
hath not seen the world : its soil is gold,
its Nile is a wonder, its houses are pal-
aces, and its air is soft, its odors surpass-
ing that of aloes-wood, and cheering the
heart, and how can Cairo be otherwise
when it is the mother of the world?"

Just one word more on Cairo's history.
It was captured by the Turks in 15 17, by
the French in 1798, by the British who
handed it back to the Turks, in 1801. and
in 1882, it was again taken by the British.

Until the year 1883 Cairo was a very
fair specimen of a large Oriental city,
where Eastern Hfe and character could
be observed with delightful ease. It was
just an Eastern city, and nothing else —
decayed palaces, dusty streets, a consid-
erable amount of filth and that endless
variety of color of which no Western
institutions may ever rob it.

The people were tolerant, and became
more so as they mixed to a greater extent
with Europeans. Railways, telegraphs
and other inventions of the Frange, or
European, had shown them that the
''magic" of the West was more powerful,
and probably more useful, than their own.

119

120

THE COLOR OF CAIRO

With these improvements the city began
to develop rapidly. If a man who saw
Cairo forty years ago were to revisit it
to-day he would see for himself what a
wonderful change has taken place, and
how that change has 'been all to the
advantage of Cairo.

The Mingling of East and West

Now these are matters of a more or less
historical character. It is good to know
something about them before setting out
to explore and enjoy the wonders of the
city. But even if we know nothing about
them we shall be able to appreciate Cairo.

Impressions will crowd in upon us at
such a furious rate that we shall hardly
know how to sort them out afterward.
This mingling of East and West, this
jostling of strange and varied types of
people and costumes, this jumbling to-
gether of buildings which seem like those
only seen in dreams, this throb, throb,
throb of one of the greatest cities in the
East, will prove to be a source of endless
delight.

But we shall not see much of all this
in the European quarters — the Taufikia,
the Ismailia and the Kasr-el-Dubara
quarters, occupying the northwestern por-
tion of the city. Here are the hotels,
banks, ministerial offices, consulates, clubs
and fine palaces of wealthy Egyptians and
Levantines as well as of Europeans.

Where A'ida Was First Produced

In the centre of Taufikia is the Esbekia
Garden, a beautiful park, with Opera
Square on the south. In the Opera House,
which is now shabby and brown colored,
was first produced Aida to celebrate the
opening of the Suez Canal, and the cos-
tumes are still used when that opera is
given. The Khedive Ismail, who nearly
bankrupted the government, paid Verdi
$50,000 to write an opera for the occa-
sion, but that was not his only method
of celebrating, nor the only expense he
incurred in connection with the great
event.

Sharia Kamel is Taufikia's principal
thoroughfare, its Fifth Avenue. Near the
northern end is the famous Shepheard's

Hotel. Its terraced tea garden is a gath-
ering place for a cosmopolitan crowd
which comes to watch the colorful life in
the street below. At its southern end,
Sharia Kamel becomes Sharia Abdin
which leads to the Midan Abdin, the pal-
ace of the present ruler of Egypt.

To the northwest of the European
quarter is Bulak, the old part of Cairo,
which is still kept very busy loading and
unloading the produce carried up and
down the Nile in strange ships. Like the
rest of Cairo, the scene is bright and full
of life.

Wonderful Palace on an Island

Bulak is easily reached by street car,
and on the nights of popular festivals it
is well worth seeing with its crowded
streets, its gaiety and its curious customs.
Just opposite is the Island of Bulak,
commonly known as Gezira, where Ismail
Pasha built a wonderful palace, such as
those they used to build in the time of
the Caliphs, and laid out a race course.
The palace has now become an hotel,
where the Khedival Sporting Club is al-
ways holding entertainments enjoyed both
by Europeans and Egyptians. During
the afternoon we see the main road to
Gezira filled with people in carriages and
motors driving out to "take the air."

The fine Kasr-en-Nil Bridge, or Great
Nile Bridge, connects the island with the
east bank of the Nile. Most of the dif-
ferent types of people who live or work
in the city can be seen by standing on this
bridge between 6:30 and 9 a.m. when it
is crowded with merchants, market-
gardeners and peddlers, dressed in the
oddest costumes, and bringing in their
wares to the markets of the city. The
brown water of the Nile flows beneath,
dotted with the peculiar craft of Egypt.
Tall-sailed painted boats, called feluccas,
sway gently in the morning breeze and
wait for the afternoon when the bridge
is opened to allow Such vessels to pass up
or down the river.

Near the eastern end of the bridge is
the Cairo Museum, which contains the
most valuable collection of Egyptian an-
tiquities in existence. The body of

FELUCCAS WAITING FOR THE SWING BRIDGE TO OPEN

Every afternoon the feluccas gather near the Great Nile Bridge to wait for its daily opening.
The bridge is then closed to road traffic for about one and a half hours. So that all may be
informed, the exact time is proclaimed by notices put up at each end. In the morning a
crowd of country folk may be seen crossing the bridge to go into Cairo's markets.

122

THE COLOR OF CAIRO

'I'utankhamen and the priceless articles,
pictured with the chapter on Ancient
Egypt, are on display here. We may see
also the mummies of Egypt's mightiest
Pharaohs so well preserved that one may
even tell the color of the hair. The mu-
seum was started through the efforts of
Auguste Mariette, a French Egyptologist,
and a statue of him occupies a place in
front of the museum.

Then we come back to the main
streets. What do we notice ? A visitor
from the West will probably feel quite
at home with the kodak shops and phar-
macies but will be impressed by the
way Cairo seems to live in the streets.
The innumerable cafes of the Esbekia
place their chairs and tables on the pave-
ments, so that it is frequently necessary
for a passer-by to step into the road, and
run the risk of being knocked down by
an arabiyeh, or carriage, dashing through
the street at the absurd rate these Eastern
drivers love so much.

Backgammon for a Cup of Coffee

These cafes are interesting, since in
them will be found people from almost
every quarter of the earth. Here are
groups of Italians, Greeks and Levantines
arguing noisily or drowsily smoking the
bubbling nargileh (water-pipe), or play-
ing a kind of backgammon for the price
of a cup of coffee.

As we continue through the streets,
every step will reveal a new and fasci-
nating picture. Odd little shops, protected
from the sun's glare by torn flapping awn-
ings, catch the eye. Not that the goods
displayed for sale are always particularly
attractive but the dark interior has an air
of mystery and the promise, not often
fulfilled, of strange merchandise. Now
comes a door with a bead curtain jingling
in the breeze — probably a barber's shop.
A mass of color piled among the shadows
of a hole in the wall proves to be a fruit-
erer's. Next to it is a native cafe with
pitch-black Ethiopians and tall Nubians
and a dozen other varieties of modern
Egypt's many races.

The streets, of course, are choked with
a motley crowd in which only the camel

or a lonely Arab from the desert seems
able to maintain any dignity. The drivers
of vehicles and beasts of burden keep up
an incessant shouting as they thread their
way through the crowd. "Make room,
() my mother!" calls a shrill-voiced
donkey-boy. "O Sheik, take care !"
"You, good fellow, to your right !" "By
your favor, effendi !" and so on.

A Street of Saladin's Days

There is even more bustle in Cairo's
bazaars than in the streets. From the
Ismailia quarter, the way down to the
bazaars is through the Muski, an ex-
tremely long thoroughfare running toward
the east. A tradition says that the IMuski
dates from the time of the famous Sala-
din, who was the Crusaders' chivalrous
foe.

Its character has changed a good deal
in recent years, and many of the native
shops with their quaintness and smells
and sleepiness have been replaced by large
shops built on the French pattern with
plate-glass windows. At one time prac-
tically the whole of the street was roofed
in, and on very hot days it proved a cool,
if crowded, retreat. On festival days one
sees representatives of many lands, from
Sweden in the north to the White Nile in
the south, and from India in the east to
Morocco in the wesL.

Motley Carnival of Cairo

It is one of the most characteristic parts
of Cairo — a carnival in which the cos-
tumes of Europe, Asia and Africa mingle
in a fascinating collection. At first it is
a little confusing. Here are Turks, grin-
ning Negroes from the Sudan, bored-
looking fellahs, or peasants, in their
bright rags, wily Levantines, green-tur-
baned Sherifs, or Moslem holy men, dig-
nified Beduins, and people whose race it
is often difficult to guess. All day long
the street is packed with donkeys, strings
of camels, loaded wagons, water-carriers
with their tinkling glasses, sherbet and
sweetmeat sellers, carriages and richly
caparisoned horses, porters shaped like
sickles, from the burdens they carry,
gorgeously-dressed Jewesses, beggar chil-

124

Donald McLeish

METAL WARE AND WEAPONS FOR THE SOUVENIR HUNTER

A shop of curiosities displays a great variety of goods before the visitor who happens to
wander down this "souk," or bazaar. There are flv-whisks, shovel-headed spears, swords
that the merchant will tell you were found on old Crusading battlefields and relics that he
says were taken from the Pharaohs' tombs, but it is not wise to believe all he tells you.

125

A GAME OF CHHCKEKS IN A COURTYARD OF OLD

Donald Mcl^eisn
CAIRO

It is known that a game very like checkers was played in ancient Egypt thousands of years
ago, and so it is not surprising to find one of our own games played to-day as far away as
Cairo. One of the men is holding the mouthpiece of a nargileh, or water-pipe, used for
smoking tobacco in the Near East. The tobacco is burned in the canister at the top.

dren, closely veiled women and all the
odds and ends of Cairo's astonishing med-
ley. The ring of hammers is almost deaf-
ening in the bazaar of the Brass Workers ;
and a strong smell of perfume comes from
the Scent-Sellers' bazaar. In the Si)ice
Market men pound strange roots and
herbs in metal mortars. Beautiful rugs
from Damascus, Ispahan and Samarkand
can be seen in the carpet shops.

The buildings of Cairo are as inter-
esting as the people, and as full of color.

"livery step tells a story of the famous
past. The stout remnant of a fortified
wall, a dilapidated moscjue, a carved door,
a Kufic (Aral)ic) text — each has its his-
tory, which carries us back to the days
when Saladin went forth from the gates
of Cairo to meet Richard on the plain of
Acre, or when Beibars, the Mameluke
cai)tain, rode at the head of his cavalry
in the charge which tramj^led upon the
Crusaders of Saint Louis."

In the old Fatimate citv is the great

126

SHOEMAKER CUTTING OUT LEATHER IN HIS TINY SHOP

This photograph gives a good idea of the native workshop. There are, of course, stores and
factories in Cairo as up-to-date as any elsewhere, but in the ba^.aars there are still little dens
with hardly room for the proprietor and his stock, and none at all for a customer. The
shelves are filled with the red slippers with upturned toes that are the usual native wear.

127

SERVING MEN WHO RUN BEFORE A CARRIAGE TO CLEAR THE WAY

Cairo's streets are so crowded in places that many of the wealthy Cairenes, as the citizens
are called, still have runners to clear the road in front of their carriages. The barefooted
runners are dressed in bright colors, and use both voice and stick. In the East time is not
thought very important, and folks must have "hurry" explained to them rather forcibly.

FARMER AND FAMILY UP FROM THE COUNTRY TO SEE THE SIGHTS

Sometimes the farmers in the neighborhood of Cairo come into the city on business, and
then their wives and families have an opportunity of seeing the great city. The children
will never sit down quietly to watch the new sights, any more than the children of our
country, and so they have a special kind of crate in which they can stand up safely.

128

Donald McLeish

HOW MOTHER USUALLY CARRIES BABY IN CAIRO

Walking about the native quarters one notices that mothers carry their babies either clasped
to one hip or else astride their shoulders. The cloak of the woman is usually dark blue and
the face veil is made of a coarse kind of black crepe kept free from nose and mouth by a
little cylinder of gilt wood. Notice the Arabic writing on the door.

129

THE COLOR OF CAIRO

mosque-university of El Azhar, which
was built by Gohar in 973. It is con-
sidered to be the most important Mo-
hammedan university in the world, and
students come to it from many different
countries, but it is so arranged that those
of the same nationality live and study to-
gether. There are over three hundred
teachers, and sometimes the students
number as many as ten thousand.

The Voice from the Minaret

Let us look at some of the other build-
ings. Every visitor to Cairo will re-
member the blue tiles of the Ibrahim
Agha Mosque, the wonderful doorway of
the Sultan Hasan Mosque, and the deli-
cate ornamentation and graceful minaret
of Kait Bey. The Arabs had a very fine
taste in art, as we cannot help but notice
as we go about the city. Then, there is
the Arab Museum which has a valuable
collection of Arabian art and a fine li-
brary, both of which have helped to make
Cairo the premier city of Arab learning.

We shall now go up to the Citadel on
the Mokattam hills and look out upon the
wonderful panorama of Cairo which is
spread before us. We see below us a
forest of minarets, rising gracefully from
the flat-roofed, yellowish buildings in
which the streets are like pathways of
darkness. From these slender minarets,
rising from Cairo's 250 mosques, goes out
the call to prayer, not, as with us, by the
ringing of bells but by the human voice.

The Citadel, built, so some believe,
from stones taken from the Pyramids,
was once the key to fortified Cairo but
now it is worthless as a military strong-
hold. Its greatest feature, apart from the
view it offers, is the Mehemet Ali Mosque
with its two wonderfully slim and beau-
tiful minarets.

How the Mamelukes Were Betrayed

The most direct road to the Citadel
used to be through the Gate al-'Azab, and
then along a narrow track walled on each
side. It was in this narrow way that the
massacre of the Mamelukes, a ruling class
of soldiers in Egypt and who were the
descendants of slaves, took place on

March i, 181 1. All the Mamelukes of
any position or power were decoyed into
the Citadel on the pretense that they were
to assist in celebrating the appointment
of Tusun, son of Mehemet Ali, to the
command of the army.

Having taken coffee, they formed in a
])rocession and marched down the narrow
way with a body of the Turkish Pasha's
troops in front and behind. As soon as
they arrived at the exit gate, it was sud-
denly closed upon them. The Pasha's
men at various vantage points then opened
fire, and those Mamelukes who tried to
escape were cut down by the sword.

It is said that of the 470 Mamelukes
who entered the Citadel, only one came
out alive, having made his horse leap
through an opening in the wall to the
meat below. The horse was killed by the
fall, but the man escaped.

Revered Mosque of 'Amr Ihn al-'Asi

The first mosque to be built in Fustat
was that raised by 'Amr Ibn al-'Asi, who
conquered Egypt in 639 a.d. The present
mos([ue of 'Amr stands on the same site,
but has very little of the original building
in it. It is not very attractive but the
people hold it in special veneration. It is
said that, after a long, disastrous drought
(1825-28) Moslems, Christians and Jews
went there together to pray for rain. On
the next day it rained. The credulous be-
lieve that one of the pillars was made
to fly through the air from Mecca to Cairo
by a blow from Mohammed's whip.

All through this glittering city you will
find strange monuments of the people —
mosques in plenty, old Arabic gates, an
endless medley of bazaars all hung with
the Ijrightly colored merchandise of East-
ern lands, ancient churches founded by
the Copts, which was the name given to
the earliest native Christians, mysterious
lattice windows — all the fascination asso-
ciated with the Orient, piled up like the
jewels in Aladdin's cave.

And just a stone's throw away, on the
threshold of the Libyan desert, the Sphinx
looks out unceasing to the dim minarets
of the city, and the Pyramids rise like
golden stairways to the blue (.f the sky.

Two Independent Black Nations

Abyssinia {Ancient Ethiopia) and New Liberia

Africa has two small groups of independent black peoples. The Republic of
Liberia was formed in 1847 from a colony established on the west coast in
1822 under the auspices of the American Colonization Society that black
plantation hands and domestic slaves might be repatriated. Although it has
valuable natural resources, its career has not been without its setbacks.
Abj'ssinia, lying between the Anglo-Eg3q)tian Sudan and Somaliland. is the
ancient independent Empire of Ethiopia, whose king claims descent from the
Queen of Sheba. Liberia is a country of steamy dark forests and rubber
plantations; Abyssinia has been called the Tibet of Africa, with what justice
we shall see in the chapter which follows.

OF Africa's black millions, two peo-
ples are independent of any Eu-
ropean power. The Republic of
Liberia, on the west coast, began as a
refuge for freed slaves from the United
States. The Kingdom of Abyssinia was
recognized as independent in 1896, but
as ancient Ethiopia it has retained its
customs and integrity (with some
changes of boundary line) since prob-
ably 1000 B.C. and possibly longer. In-
deed, the tradition is cherished that their
rulers are sprung from Solomon and the
Queen of Sheba, Makeda. \Miile the
Ethiopian is black-skinned and kinky-
haired, he is not Negro, save by inter-
marriage. His ancestors probably came
from ancient Judea and Aral^iia, though
there have been waves of Semitic invasion.
His speech is principally one of the an-
cient Semitic tongues, Amharic. Chris-
tianity probably reached Ethiopia in the
fourth century and the church to-day is
a powerful one, with a numerous priest-
hood. But a good two-thirds of the popu-
lation are Gallas, one of the subject tribes,
probably of Hamitic origin, though Hght
in color.

While Abyssinia is still feudal, the trails
are little more than cow-paths, and there
are no towns in our sense of the word.
King Menelik II, who ruled from 1889
until 1913, unified the warring groups
and prepared the way for the modern-
ization of political institutions which the
young King Regent, Taffari Makonnen,
crowned in 1928, is undertaking. While
domestic slavery is recognized, an edict
of 1924 provides for emancipation.

Abyssinia, a land larger than France,
owes its long integrity in large part to
its situation upon a mountain stronghold
and in part, no doubt, to its fine climate,
which has kept its people energetic —
ready to fend ofif all comers. It is a land
through which one can ride on horse-
l)ack, with a train of pack-mules and nu-
merous native servants, guides, inter-
preters and armed guards — the last named
because of the bandits armed with spears
who still make forays upon enemy tribes.

The mountain forests contain great
drooping cedars and stately yews as well
as unusual specimens like the kosso (Ha-
genia), with pink flowers which hang
like gigantic l)unches of grapes. Every-
thing is gigantic, even to the heather and
the mountain thistles. Coffee grows wild
in parts of Ethiopia, as does rubber,
though *'long berry Mocha'' is also culti-
vated. Indeed, coffee probably originated
in Kafa, and was not known elsewhere
until the fifteenth century. Bananas also
are grown. To the south and west there
is bamboo, which enables people to build
better huts than the grass hives of the
grazing regions, as well as bridges for
the smaller streams. The larger rivers
have to be forded or swum.

It is near the centre of Abyssinia that
the Blue Nile (the Abbai) takes its rise
and the spot is revered by the natives.
This river separates off the northern prov-
inces, as dtiring a large part of the year
it is entirely impassable ; its canyon with
walls five thousand feet deep at one place
can be entered only at long intervals and
is still largely unexplored. Its wild life

131

TWO INDEPENDENT BLACK NATIONS

includes leopards, monkeys, especially the
big white-bearded Guerezas, and moun-
tain antelopes (Nyalas). Leopard and
monkey skins are items of export. The
birds are colorful, especially the flocks of
little pink bee-eaters.

Addis Ababa, chosen as the capital in
the nineties, a rambling place with the
cool nights of over eight thousand feet
in altitude, receives swaying camel cara-
vans from the interior of Africa, but
these now jostle small honking auto-
mobiles of a familiar make. Cattle, sheep,
dogs and chickens also make free of the
main highways by day ; but at night all
is dark and silent, save for the howling

A REAL FUZZY WUZZY

Her way of gumming her hair over a frame-
work connects her with the Beja Nile race
and the Baggara Fuzzy Wuzzies who were
broken at Omdurman by Lord Kitchener.

LION-HUNTER WITH TWO CUBS

Although Abyssinian lions are usually timid,
they steal cattle, and so arc killed. This
fuzzy-haired Issa tribesman spears the parent
lions, but keeps the cubs to sell for pets.

of hyenas and an occasional leopard, and
the natives are forbidden to be out.

As for Liberia, in 1822 a shipload of
Christian Negroes embarked for the west
coast of Africa and on arrival made a

132

C. F. Rey

ABYSSINIAN PONIES, A BREED PECULIAR TO THE COUNTRY

Apparently a distinct breed, the Abyssinian horse is in size about equal to an English polo
pony and in some ways resembles the Arab. The natives who, as a rule, prefer mules, ride
their ponies unshod, although the going is often of the worst. The small horses are natural
jumpers, good-looking and well built. In color they are prevailingly gray, sometimes black

ABYSSINIAN CATTLE, AN UNEXPLOITED SOURCE OF WEALTH

Vast herds of cattle roam the plains of Abyssinia, but few, if any, are exported. The native
mind holds the possession of livestock more valuable than an accumulation of money, and
every animal that leaves the country is merely considered as having been lost for either food
or breeding. These animals are small and have the hump common to most African cattle.

133

TJVO INDEPENDENT BLACK NATJOXS

bargain with some native chiefs by which
they exchanged twelve knives and other
considerations for a strip of coast. The
natives, when they saw that they had
made a poor trade, tried to expel the new-
comers, but the ex-slaves managed to hold
their own; and in 1847 ])ecame the Free
and Independent Republic of Liberia.

These latter are composed of many
tribes, such as the Krus, the Kpwesi and
the Mandingos. Let us take the Krus
first — also called Croos, Krev, Kroomen
and Krooboys. For centuries they have
hired themselves out as sailors to Euro-
pean ships. These Krus are Christians
and speak Fnglish. They are an intel-
ligent race.

The Mandingos Hve on the
inland plateau. They have
Arab blood in their veins and
they dress picturesquely in
flowing white robes and heel-
less slippers. They are Mo-
hammedans and successful
missionaries of their faith, and
in this work they have done a
good deal with those Liberian
tribes which were cannibalistic.

The republic now has fully
350 miles of coastline. It is a
land of dense tropical forests
in which a deep green twi-
light reigns and the huge tree
trunks are swathed in creepers.
The creeks are lined with
mangroves, the roots of which
writhe fantastically into the
swamp. There are also high
grasslands. Few people have
penetrated into the interior of
the republic. Even around
Monrovia, the capital town,
there are few roads, and as
these approach the bush they
degenerate into jungle tracks.
Many of the tribes have a
hearty dislike of roads, for ex-
perience has taught them that
good roads mean a frequent
appearance of the tax collector,
backed up by a company of the Liberian
Frontier Force, as Liberia's black army
is called.

The Liberian s — that is, the Negroes of
American descent — form but a small part
of the population and live only along the
coast. Indeed, it is unsafe for them to go
inland without an escort, as many of the
inland tribes hate them as interlopers, and
they are outnumbered by the aborigines.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN ADDIS

E. E. Burgess

ABABA

Below is the Coptic Church of St. George; above is the
Bank of Abyssinia. One finds it hard to imagine that the
streets of the capital are thronged with camel caravans, as
well as honking Ford machines.

for in the remote depths of Liberia, can-
nibalism still exists, and the Mas tribes,
who occupy the Grand Bassa country,
were, until recently, openly addicted to
dining ofif their fellows. Though they
have now abandoned their degraded prac-
tice, most of the older people have de-
voured at least the flesh of captives of
war.

The most powerful tribe of Liberia is

135

138

TWO INDEPENDENT BLACK NATIONS

111 recent years. In 191 5 the Krus
broke out in a rebellion which cost
many lives before the Liberian Fron-
tier Force, led by Negro officers bor-
rowed from the United States Army,
defeated the insurgents.

Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, is
built on the shores of a lagoon. It is
not a healthful town for white men
and there is a scarcity of fresh food.
The trying climate makes even trivial
wounds and scratches dangerous, and
malaria is prevalent. Monrovia pos-
sesses some fine buildings, but, gen-
erally speaking, it is a town of con-
trasts, for well-built houses are often
scrappily finished ofif with galvanized
iron streaked with rust. The houses
are usually built with balconies and
piazzas similar to those attached to

E. N. A.

TWO SMART CITIZENS OF LIBERIA

Lengths of cotton cloth of vivid hue form the cloth-
ing of these two men. Their battered hats are con-
sidered, nearly enough, save for gala occasions.
Outside the coastal strip hats are superfluous.

the Kpwesi. They are hunters and warriors
and, contrary to the usual native mode of wag-
ing war, they disdain ambuscades, but charge
straight at their foes in mass formation. They
use bows and arrows for hunting, but fight only
with long knives. They are a musical race and,
besides beating the inevitable tom-tom, play i
the harp and the flute. They are also expert
in various crafts and show considerable taste
in decorating their products.

The natives, as a whole, exhibit considerable
hostility toward their Liberio-American over-
lords, and much desultory warfare has occurred

139

E. N. A.

A KRU OF MONROVIA

In Monrovia, the capital of Liberia,
people usually dress in gaudy colors and
barbaric designs fashioned in European
stvle. This is a village belle.

TJi^O INDEPENDENT BLACK NATIONS

houses in the southern states of America,
and the gardens are gay with scarlet hibis-
cus blooms. Monrovia is the seat of the
Liberian government. It is divided into
live long streets which rise one above the
other parallel to the waterfront.

On one side of Monrovia is a large
colony of Krus, living in palm-thatched
huts. There the Krus, or Krooboys, as
they are called, stay during the short in-
tervals between their voyages.

Recently a rich American rubber com-
pany acquired a huge tract of land in
Liberia and is planting millions of rub-
ber trees. Such an undertaking cannot
but have a good effect on the financial
condition of the country, and Liberia, al-
ready modeled politically on the United
States of America, should derive further
benefit from acquaintance with the en-
terprise of modern commerce. The above
mentioned rubber company is not in-
volved in the alleged forced labor condi-

tions which an international commissior
has been asked to investigate.

Liberia joined the Allies in the World
War. Most of the trade had been con-
trolled by the Germans, who had estab-
lished a wireless station at Monrovia and
had begun the construction of railways —
the only ones in the country — at the
capital and Boporra, in the county of
Montserrado.

The Republic of Liberia, which was
established in 1847, "^^y not as yet have
advanced far along the road to civiliza-
tion, but its people have overcome many
difficulties, and its continued existence is
a proof of its vitality.

Touching Abyssinia are two Italian
colonies, Eritrea to the northeast and
Italian Somaliland to the southeast, which
have not been mentioned elsewhere. So
far they have been of little importance.
The main facts regarding them are given
in the summary below.

ABYSSINIA AND LIBERIA: FACTS AND FIGURES

ABYSSINIA

An inland country and empire of northeast
Africa ; bounded on the north by Eritrea, west
by the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, south by Kenya
Colony, southeast and east by the British,
Italian and French possessions in Somaliland
and on the Red Sea. Political institutions are
of a feudal character. Total area, 350,000
square miles ; population, about 10,000,000.
Chief industries are agricultural and pastoral.
Forests contain valuable trees ; iron, gold, coal,
copper, sulphur and potash salts are found.
Chief exports are hides and skins, coffee, wax,
ivory, civet and native butter ; imports are
textiles, corrugated sheets and bars, hardware,
cement and kerosene. Railway mileage, 488 ;
length of telegraph line, 2,000 miles. The
Abyssinians are Christians. With the excep-
tion of a few mission schools, education is re-
stricted to the teaching of the clergy. Popu-
lation of chief towns: Addis Ababa (capital)
has a native population of 60,000 to 70,000 ;
Harrar, al)out 40,000 ; Dire Dawa, about 30,000.

to 2,500,000. Agricultural, mining and indus-
trial development slight. Chief exports are
palm kernels and oil, piassava fibre, rubber,
coffee and ivory ; imports are rice, hardware,
gin, tobacco, building material, clothing and
fish. Means of communication are poorly de-
veloped. The Americo-Liberians are all Prot-
estants. Government educational system sup-
plemented by mission schools. Capital is Mon-
rovia, population, including Krutown, about
10,000.

ITALIAN SOMALILAND

Italian colony on the east coast of Africa,
bounded north and east by the Indian Ocean,
south by Kenya Colony and west by Abyssinia
and British Somaliland. Administered by a
Governor. Area, about 190.000 square miles ;
population, about 1,200.000. Agricuhure and
livestock-raising are important occupations.
Chief exports are sesame, oil, gum, hides and
butter. 2f) wireless stations. Alogadiscio, the
capital, has a population of 25,000.

LIBERIA

Negro republic in West Africa extending
along the coast of northern Guinea between
Sierra Leone on the northwest and the Ivory
Coast on the southeast. Executive power
vested in a President and a Council of 7
ministers ; legislative power in a Parliament of
two houses. Total area, about 43,000 square
miles; total population estimated at 2,000,000

ERITREA

Italian colony on the coast of the Red Sea.
Bounded inland by Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.
Abyssinia and French Somaliland. Adminis-
tered by a Governor. Total area, 45754 square
miles; population, about 393.000 exclusive of
4.681 Europeans. Agriculture, pearl-fishing
and gold-mining are carried on. Population
of Asmara, seat of government, 14.711-

140

British Africa from West to East

Following the Flag Across the Continent

Very few of us could give, offhand, a list of the l>ritish possessions in Africa,
remembering especially the changes in the map made by the World War. In
this chapter, however, we shall learn a good deal about these, as we are to take
a journey from Gambia, on the Atlantic coast, straight across the great con-
tinent to the Indian Ocean and then down to northern Rhodesia. The map
vvill show us that the territory under British control does not form the un-
broken belt from west to east which it does from north to south. In these
far-stretching lands we shall find that many and strangely different races of
people are living under the protection of the Union Jack.

F we look at a map of Africa fifty
years old we shall see that the central
zone appears to be inhabited only
around the coast. The rest has very few
names, and some parts are blank. The
land is vast. The early explorers lost
their way in tropical forests, died of dis-
ease, or were killed by savage beasts or
still more savage natives. Therefore trop-
ical Africa was thought of only as the
land of Nature's splendor and cruelty,
of gold and elephants, slaves and can-
nibals. The map of to-day shows us two
groups of lands, west and east, lying be-
tween the tropics, under the British flag.
The group to the west is the older, and
we will therefore start with Gambia, the
earliest of the British African possessions.

Nearly five hundred
years ago, Portuguese
sailors exploring the coast
found here a wide river
with a few islands in its
estuary. In 1618 James I |&e,
granted a charter to a
trading company called
the Merchant Adventurers
of London. These men
built a fort on an island
which they named St.
James' Isle, and so started
the first little settlement.
To-day the British colony |\
has moved to St. Mary's
Island, where there is a
town, Bathurst, with the
most modern comforts and
enjoyments. On the main-
land, on both sides of the
river for over two hun-

dred miles, lies a strip of country from
perhaps six to forty miles wide, which, in
1888, became a British Protectorate — that
is to say, it is a country occupied by na-
tives under native rulers, but Great Britain
is responsible for seeing that the native
princes rule justly, and for protecting the
country from foreign attack.

Suppose we go by steamboat straight
up the river. We shall pass first through
dense forests of mangroves, a tree of the
swamps. Then the mangrove forests thin
out, and here and there in the swamps
rise higher patches of cultivated land. Fi-
nally we come to fertile plains over which
roam great herds of cattle. The native
counts his wealth by cattle, not by money,
and Gambia exports hides and skins.

PLACES WE VISIT IN THIS CH.4PTER

141

THE MARKET OF FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE'S CAPITAL

Freetown, which was founded in 1788 as a home for freed slaves, is now a very busy city
with a native population of well over thirty thousand and the best harbor of all Africa's
west coast ports. Nearly every woman who has anything to carry balances it on her head.
This practice has given the African native an upright and graceful carriage.

We see other plains given up to the cul-
tivation of the nut v^hich v^e call the pea-
nut. When the flow^er of this plant dies,
the seed-pod pushes itself into the ground,
ripens there and has to be dug up ; so it
is also called the "ground-nut." In olden
days Gambia exported slaves, elephant
tusks, w^ax, rubber and palm kernels ; but
now the natives are finding that growing
the ground-nut pays so w^ell that, apart
from millet and rice, they do not trouble
much about other products.

The natives are real Negroes, with black
skins, flat, broad noses, woolly hair and
thick lips ; they wear next to no clothing,
and, apart from a few mission schools,
have no education. They are pagans and
believe only in magic and witch doctors.

French territory separates the British
West African settlements from each
other, and we must sail along the coast
to reach Sierra Leone, which is about 180
miles from north to south, though it does
not extend far inland. The colonv con-

142

MOHAMMEDAN SCHOOLMASTER OF BIMBUKU, A VILLAGE OF ASHANTI

Ashanti is the name given to the middle part of Gold Coast Colony, which lies between the
Gold Coast proper and the Northern Territories. It is called after its fierce warlike people.
Like their near relatives, the Fantis of the coastal districts, the Ashantis are mostly fetish
worshipers; but some have been converted to Christianity, and some to Mohammedanism.

143

QUEER GOD WORSHIPED BY THE FANTIS OF WASSAW

The Fanti people, who live in Gold Coast '
they believe that powerful spirits inhabit ce
as this, which is worshiped in a village of
unless they are appeased, v;ill, the

sists of one or two islands and a penin-
sula. All the West African coast was
connected with the slave trade ; for three
centuries natives were captured or bought
here and taken away into slavery by Eu-
ropean nations, Britain included. Al)out
150 years ago British people began to feel
that this cruel trade was wrong, and in
1788 a British man bought land on the
peninsula from the native king and made
on it a settlement which he called Free-
town, as a place of refuge for liberated
slaves. Later on British merchants set-

"olony, are great fetish worshipers — that is.
tain striking natural objects or such images
Wassaw district. These spirits or fetishes,
"antis believe, do them great harm.

tied here, and to-day h'reetown, which is
the capital of Sierra Leone, is a large,
prosperous town, with schools and a uni-
versity. Its harbor is the best on the \\'est
Vfrican coast.

The country inland became a British
I Votectorate in 1896. .\s the rivers are
not navigable for any great distance, we
shall have to go up country from Freetown
by rail, and if it be December or January
we shall be much bothered 1)y the Har-
mattan, a dry dust-laden north wind
blowing from the Sahara Desert.

BRITISH AFRICA FROM WEST TO EAST

W e notice that the natives are not all
black. Indeed, several of the tribes to the
north and east are fairly light-skinned.
Some of the northern tribes are Moham-
medans, but the majority of the natives
are pagans. We shall see them all very
busily at work in the fields and forests,
tending their cattle or their plantations of
ground-nuts and rice, cassava and kola-
nut trees, or collecting the natural prod-
ucts, mainly palm kernels, ginger and
rubber. Platinum is also found.

From Sierra Leone the steamer must
take us some distance south and east to

the Gold Coast. This settlement was
started with forts erected along the coast
by various European nations ; but Great
Britain bought the land from Holland in
1 8/ 1, and it became a British colony.
Frequent quarrels with Ashanti to the
north, particularly concerning human sac-
rifices, led at last to war with that country ;
and finally Prempeh, the king, was de-
ported, and in 1901 Ashanti was annexed,
while the country still farther north, which
is now known as the Northern Territories,
l)ecame a ])rotcct()rate.

When the people found that the new

DRESSING-ROOM OF A YOUNG LADY OF THE GOLD

ATcCann

COAST

The Fantis are said to be the most intelligent of all the Negro tribes. They are peace-
loving, too, and are occupied in fishing from canoes and cultivating the ground. Their
skin is chocolate colored, and they have the Negro's characteristic woolly hair. This young
woman is arranging hers in th^ most popular fashion — in two stiff horns,

145

146

A HORSEMAN OF THE DESERTS IN SOKOTO, NIGERIA

Sokoto is the northwestern province of Nigeria, where it touches the Sahara Desert. This
dark-skinned cavalryman is wearing a typical face-cloth, which he draws up over mouth
and nostrils to keep them free from the dust of the desert. His enormous shield is made
of ox-hide and to his reins are tied charms to protect him from magic.

rulers were more just than their native
kings, they settled down quietly. Even
Kintampo, an important town farther
north, which was one of the great slave
markets of this part of the world, became
peaceful and decided to trade in kola-
nuts instead of slaves. The Ashanti and
the Fanti are chiefly of a warm, dark
brown color. There are high schools and
training colleges along the coast, but else-
where the natives are largely uneducated
and heathen. They are loyal to Britain
and during the World War it was not
necessary to leave soldiers here to keep
order. King Prempeh was allowed to
return in 1924 to end his days at home.

If we land at Sekondi we can take the
railway to Kumasi, the old capital of
Ashanti. Near here is found the gold
which gave the Gold Coast its name.

In towns the people find employment
making baskets, pottery and cloth and
working in leather and metals. Most of
the big towns are linked up by telegraph,
and where the railway ceases, motor roads
take its place. Gold, valuable timber
(cedar and mahogany), kola-nuts, grain,
palm oil and palm kernels are exported,
but about thirty years ago someone started
growing cocoa, and now the cocoa in-
dustry is fast becoming the main source
of the world's supply.

147

148

THE HOUSE OF JUSTICE AT KANO, CAPITAL OF KANO, NIGERIA

All the houses of Kano are built, as this Court House is. of mud, even the Great Mosque
and the Emir's palace, which covers about thirty acres. The houses are decorated by strange
patterns drawn on the mud before it is baked as hard as stone by the sun. There is a high
mud wall all around the city, and outside that is a deep ditch.

SELLING HERBS

ILLNESSES

KANO'S MARKET

Raphael

PLACE

Kano was an important trading centre centuries ago, and it is still so to-day. Its people
used to trade by caravan across the Sahara with the Moors of Tripoli, from whom they got
their Mohammedan religion and their custom of wearing flowing robes. Now the town is
the chief market of a large district and is connected by railway to Lagos.

149

ISO

THATCHING THE ROOF OF A ROUND MUD HOUSE IN NUPE, NIGERIA

The tall roof of this circular house projects o
carved posts. The Nigerians are clever thatch
like this. They finish off the top with a plumy
are an intelligent tribe, bu

Rejoining the boat at Sekondi we will
proceed eastward, passing Cape Coast
Castle, the original British settlement,
and Accra, the present capital, which now
has a wireless station, and halt at Lome,
just beyond the boundary. This is the
entrance to Togoland, which before the
World War belonged to Germany. It is
a long, narrow strip of country about the
size of Ireland adjoining the (lold Coast.
It is a fertile land, and in addition to
palm oil and kernels — its chief exports —
it grows cotton, corn, cocoa, rubber and
sisal hemp.

On the declaration of war in 1914 the
British and French marched into Togo-
land, and the Germans, after blowing up
their important wireless station at Ka-
mina, surrendered unconditionally. In
the final settlement the administration of
Togoland was entrusted by the Allies to
France and Great Britain together, Great
Britain taking the northern part. We
shall not stop in Lome or the little town
of Togo farther inland, but will go on
eastward till we come to Nigeria, the

v'er the walls and makes a veranda upheld by
ers and make perfectly water-tight grass roofs
tuft. The Nupes. who live in central Nigeria,
t were once slave raiders.

largest of all the British possessions in
West Africa.

Nigeria is almost square-shaped, nearly
four times as large as Great Britain, with
a population two and a half times as
large as that of London. Halfway tip the
western boundary it is entered by the
River Niger, which flows along southeast
until it is met by the Benue River coming
from the eastern boundary. All Nigeria
to the north of these two rivers is known
as the Northern Provinces. The two
rivers together form a stream two miles
wide, which flows steadily south until
about 140 miles from the coast, where it
forms a delta, breaking into numbers of
little rivers and lagoons.

At the extreme west is marshy and
impenetrable Lagos. This, until Great
Britain captured it in 1851, was a famous
slave market, supplied by the province of
Benin. To-day it is the capital and the
greatest trade port of Nigeria. Apart
from Lagos all Nigeria has been acquired
by Great Britain during the last half
century or so.

BRITISH AFRICA FROM WEST TO EAST

Dense Tropical Forests

We can travel up the river in a large
steamer as far as Jebba, or we can go
there from Lagos direct by rail, enter the
Northern Provinces and continue north
by rail as far as Zaria and Kano. Which-
ever way we go we shall pass through
dense tropical forests where grow ma-
hogany, ebony, cedar, rubber, cork, palm
and kola-nut trees. Then come others,
gum, locust bean, wild date palms and
shea-nut trees. Shea-nuts yield a buttery
fat which is used by the natives for food,
and which is also exported to Europe for
the manufacture of soap, candles and
pomades. Presently the forests diminish
and little clearings are seen where yams,
maize, plantains, guinea corn and cocoa
are grown. The bread of the country is
made from guinea corn. The Northern
Provinces grow ground-nuts, shea-nuts,
palms, rubber and gum trees and rear
herds of sheep and cattle, keep dogs, goats
and fowls, and, in the northernmost
territory, use camels for transport, and
Kano is an emporium for caravans from
the Sahara and elsewhere. In this region
the soil is poor, for the Sahara is draw-
ing near. The natives of the north be-
long to the Hausa and Fulani tribes. The
Fulani originally came from the eastern
part of Africa. The Hausa, who once
possessed all northern Nigeria from Lake
Chad to Sokoto and beyond, are black,
intelligent Negroes, Mohammedans by
religion.

From Zaria we can, by means of a
small mountain railway, climb the Ikuichi
plateau, a lofty tableland of granite, 150
miles long by 100 broad. The sides are
sheer, and until the railway was built it
was inaccessible except by three tiny and
easily guarded passages.

A Modern Tower of Babel

The inhabitants are of many races,
from jet black to light-colored people
with almost European features. There
are 164 different languages spoken on the
plateau. The natives have mined iron,
lead and tin for centuries. Although
roads are being made in all directions.

there are places in Nigeria where no
white man has ever traveled, and other
districts, difficult of access, where slav-
ery and cannibalism are still practiced.
Near the Benue River there is a tribe, the
Afunshi, who are quite unconquered and
are dreaded on account of their poisoned
arrows. In the western part of the
Southern Provinces we find the Yorubas,
a brave, warlike Mohammedan people,
but for the most part the Nigerian na-
tives are black and pagan. Only about
six per cent of the children get any kind
of education.

Adjoining Nigeria and running from
the coast to Lake Chad on the east is a
strip of country known as Cameroon.
This, like Togoland, belonged to Germany
before the war. It was surrendered in
1 91 6, and later it was handed over to
France and Great Britain to administer.
Some of the native tril)es here are light
colored, with almost European features
and well shaped hands. They are a por-
tion of the great Bantu family, a people
of many races who speak practically the
same tongue, found chiefly in East and
South Africa. Near the coast Cameroon
has plantations of rubber and cocoa
laid out by the Germans, but apart from
these the country, though fertile, is un-
developed. In Mctoria, however, ex-
])eriments are being made in the grow-
ing of vanilla and spices ; there is trade
in ivory, and ebony is abundant.

Arabian Stock in Somaliland

French and Belgian territories separate
us from British East Africa. Suppose,
therefore, we continue our journey by
aeroplane. The countries adjoin each
other with one exception, that of British
Somaliland, a strip of land lying on the
coast of the Gulf of Aden ; and we will
fly on over the Sudan and Al)yssinia and
visit this isolated country first. The na-
tives here are not Negroes, but claim to
be the descendants of Arabs. They are
a tall, fine, active race, very dark, and in
features they somewhat resemble the an-
cient Egy])tians. They are a fierce, law-
less people, many of them fanatical Mo-
hammedans who have given Great Britain

GAMBIA'S KING, Archibong II, displays a dignity that well suits his regal state. His
royal crown is of gold studded with precious stones and mounted on ermine and velvet. It has
a fairly close resemblance to the Imperial Crown of Britain. In contrast to the richness of
crown and collar and brocaded skirt are the carpet slippers that cover the royal feet.

153

154

BRITISH AFRICA FROM WEST TO EAST

much trouble since the protectorate was
estabHshed in 1884. The trade of the
country is in the hands of Arab and In-
dian merchants on the coast. The natives
breed herds of camels, goats and sheep or
grow crops of millet, coffee and indigo
and collect the fragrant gums, myrrh and
frankincense (the chief ingredient of in-
cense), for which this land has always
been famous. The British garrison sta-
tioned here consists of a camel corps four
hundred strong.

Now suppose we fly back to Khartum,
the capital of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan,
a vast but sparsely populated territory.
We recall the heroic death of General
Gordon while defending the town against
the Mahdi, and Kitchener's subsequent
victory over the Mahdi and his army at

Omdurman. After this, Egypt entrusted
Great Britain with the task of governing
the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, a country
three times as large as Egypt itself.

For over fourteen hundred miles of its
course the Nile flows through the Sudan
and largely influences its cultivation. The
northern provinces grow crops of millet,
the chief food of the natives, also ground-
nuts, dates and cotton. In the three prov-
inces of Haifa, Dongola and Berber there
are well over a million date-palms. More-
over, the Sudan is rich in cattle, sheep and
goats. Camels are in use throughout the
greater part of the country.

Crossing to the White Nile, we journey
south by steamer and pass through a fer-
tile belt from which is obtained, among
other things, the world's supply of gum

Percival

THE UMBRELLA SHOWS THAT A RICH MAN LIES BURIED HERE

The Ibibios are a very wild tribe of bushmen who live on the Calabar coast in the south-
east of Nigeria. They hide their houses deep in the jungle, but build, in the open, con-
spicuous tombs of painted wood thatched with palm leaves. Here they put all kinds of
bottles and pots and jars for the use of the dead man's spirit.

155

IN KENYA COLONY, it is the custom for a man to buy his wife from her father. This
Kikuyu man had to pay eight cows, ten goats and twenty jars of native beer for his bride.

156

NIGERIAN CHILDREN, like these little girls, wear few clothes, even when dressed in their
best. Their heads were bound when they were babies and grew into this unnatural shape.

157

BRITISH AFRICA FROM WEST TO EAST

arabic. Presently the Nile is joined by
the Bahr-el-Ghazal from the west, and
here we enter a different kind of country.
Low-lying and watered by many tribu-
tary rivers, its soil is the richest in the
whole oi the Sudan, but the natives are
indolent, and content themselves with col-
lecting timber from the tropical forests.

It is thought that the southern Sudan
is the home of the true Negro race, and
certainly the majority of the natives here
to-day are pure black Negroes of the most
primitive type. Some are even cannibals.
They are a great contrast to the people
dwelling in northern Sudan, who are
mainly Arabs, Nubians or mixed tribes.

At Rejaf the Nile becomes unnavi-

gable. We must therefore march on foot
to Numile, on the Uganda border. The
distance is ninety-three miles, and we can
walk only in the cool of the early morn-
ing. We cannot get even a donkey to
carry our luggage, for the disease-bearing
tsetse fly swarms in all parts of this dis-
trict and kills off the transport animals.
Uganda is in the region of the Great
Lakes. A steamer will take us by river
to Albert Nyanza. Thence by motor-
steamer and railway we reach Victoria
Nyanza, the second largest lake in the
world, discovered by Captain Speke in
1858 to be the source of the Nile.

Uganda is as large as the British Isles,
Of the natives, the most civilized are the

BISHARIN CARAVAN MEN REST AT THEIR

JOURNEY'S

The Bisharins live in the Sudan just north of the Hadendoa, and though they are chiefly
nomads, or wanderers, they have a permanent centre at Assuan. They keep flocks of sheep
and herds of camels, and collect senna leaves. These leaves, together with ostrich feathers
and ivory and gum arabic they bring to market by camel caravan.

158

Sudan Govt. Rail\\ ays

A "FUZZY-WUZZY" OF THE ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN

This fine, fierce-looking man is a Hadendoa, who lives in the hilly Nubian Desert south of
Suakin. He looks warlike enough with his spear and dagger and shield, and it is no wonder
that men of his tribe make exceptional soldiers. His great mop of hair has earned for his
tribe, as it has for the Baggara people, the name of " Fuzzy- Wuzzy."

159

SWAHILI WOMEN of Zanzibar take great pains with their appearance. They paint designs
on their cheeks and foreheads and dress their hair elaborately. Their long toothed comb
is like that used by the Fiji Islanders. Because these girls are a mixture of two races, Arab
and negro, one sister may be dark with woolly hair, another lighter with straight hair.

160

IN ZANZIBAR and on the neighboring mainland live the Swahilis or ''coast people." They
are the descendants of Arabs who generations ago came here as traders and married negro
inhabitants. They speak archaic Bantu mixed with Arabic and use Persian, Hindu, Portuguese,
German and English words besides. Their color varies and their features are often Semitic.

161

SOMALI WAR DANCE THAT LOOKS LIKE A DEADLY COMBAT

The Somali people are largely nomad herdsmen who keep great herds of cattle and goats
and sheep, though some are fishermen and some, farmers. They are excitable but courageous,
and make good soldiers. These two photographs show their war dance, called Boroma-
Boromsi, performed by two fighters and a group of dancing spearmen.

THE FIGHT IS FINISHED WHEN THE SHIELDSMAN FALLS

One of the combatants is armed with a cutlass, the other protects himself with a shield, and
a fierce struggle takes place. At last the shieldsman falls to the ground ahd begs for mercy
while the chorus chants "Boromsi Boromsa." The swordsman now asks whether he shall
kill his opponent, who, as it is only a dance, is always allowed to go free.

162

THEIR GIGANTIC POLES ARE SIGNS THAT CIVILIZATION IS COMING

One of the first things the white man does, when he has explored a new country and wishes
to open it up to trade, is to link it with the nearest large port by telegraph. This photograph
was taken in Tanganyika Territory, and shows native porters carrying the tall, slender posts
of cast-iron that are to support the telegraph wires.

163

THIS WANDERING DERVISH of the Sudan carries a polished gourd as a begging-bowl.
Dervish is Persian for "seeking doors" or begging, and in Islam generally implies member-
ship in a religious fraternity. Of these, there are perhaps thirty, distinguished by their garb.
Each has its ritual, which may include whirlings and the self-torture of the howlers.

165

166

16;

be,
O J? -r
^.5

4; > D

J3 OJ OJ <3J
tfl t/3 ?> c

° o.

?J c/} 0) <3-'

- B-^
o c

. t« U C

t/3 O

c = ^ 4;

S T3

a5 ""^-^

OJ t«
5^ 1J

t/i

b£) 3 <u

3 £

'-I <u <u

2 o

C QJ no

168

BRITISH AFRICA FROM IVFST TO FAST

RataiiKas. who liavc l)L'en converted to
Christianity. They are a tall, well-huilt
race, and make clever iron-workers and
carpenters. Many of them are musical.

Bananas form the staple food ; cotton-
growing is the chief industry, but coffee,
rubber, rice, chillies and sugar are also
cultivated. Uganda has no coast, so most
of her commerce with the outer world has
to go by the Kenya and Uganda Railway.

Kenya a Land of Contrasts

Kenya is considerably more than twice
the size of Great Britain, and its ])opu-
lation is less than three million. It is a
varied country of barren stretches, hot,
fertile plains and more temperate high-
lands. The seat of government, orig-
inally at Mom])asa, has been transferred
to Nairobi. This town, through which
the train presently passes, is a flourishing
place with electric light, telephones and
motor cars. Here and in the surrounding
highland country are found the only
places suitable for European settlers.

The Masai of the southwest are an in-
teresting tribe. When a Masai boy is
seventeen years old he is usually six feet
in height. For the next three years he
is fed on milk, blood and half-raw beef-
steaks and is trained rigorously. At the
age of twenty he is a perfectly developed
warrior. All Masai when grown are a
dull chocolate cole r, but as new-born ba-
bies they are yellow.

Mohammedan Sivahili

Mombasa has the finest harbor on the
East African coast. Here we will take
ship to the south for the island of Zanzi-
bar, which, with the smaller island of
Pemba and a strip along the mainland
opposite, has been the Protectorate of
Zanzibar since 1890, and to obtain which
Britain, among other concessions, gave
Heligoland, an island in the North Sea,
to Germany. The protectorate is ruled
by a native sultan, subject to the British
Government. His people, though compris-
ing many races, are known as Swahili
and speak one tongue. The Swahili of
the islands depend for a living mainly on
growing cloves for the spice markets of

the world, though they are now st irting
to cultivate coconut ])alms. Once trouble-
some, these people, who are mainly Mo-
hammedans, are now loyal subjects, and
the present sultan attended the coronation
of King George.

We now cross to the mainland strip at
Dar-es- Salaam, the seat of government
and main port of Tanganyika Territory,
which includes the southern half of Lake
Victoria Xyanza, where the tsetse-fly
causes sleeping-sickness. The plantations
are owned chiefly by Arabs. Ivory is a
considerable source of wealth. Gold,
mica and tin are found. The railway
runs from the coast to Victoria Nyanza,
and camel caravan routes are used.

If we go south we strike Lake Nyasa
and the Nyasaland protectorate around
its western and southern shores. This
tiny country, with North Rhodesia and
South Tanganyika, brings to memory
the name of David Livingstone, the dis-
coverer of Lake Nvasa and Victoria
Falls.

In Honor of David Livingstone

Blantyre, the capital of Nyasaland, is
named after Livingstone's birthplace in
Scotland. The natives, many of whom
are Christians, are progressive people and
value education. There are more than
165,000 students in the Mission schools.
1\)bacco-growing is the main industry of
the country, but cotton, tea, rubber, coffee
and corn are also cultivated.

Northern Rhodesia, to the west of
Nyasaland, was not definitely taken over
by the Crown tiU April, 1924. The un-
finished Cape to Cairo Railway passes
through it frcjm south to north, and most
of the ]:>opulation is settled along the rail-
way line. In the high northwest, in spite
of the trouble with the tsetse-fly, cattle
are reared extensively, and exported,
sometimes as many as twelve hundred
head per month, to feed the natives work-
ing in the mines of the Belgian Congo.

The country has great mineral wealth.
Here at Livingstone, in the extreme
south, we will take our leave of British
East Africa, with the thunder of the
neighboring Victoria Falls in our ears.

170

171

BRITISH AFRICA FROM WEST TO EAST

BRITISH AFRICA FROM WEST TO EAST: FACTS AND FIGURES

GAMBIA

Independent Crown Colony and Protectorate
administered under a Governor with an Execu-
tive and nominated Legislative Council, Area
of colony, 4 square miles; population, 10,000.
Area of Protectorate, 4,130; population in 1921,
about 200.000. Chief export is ground-nuts.
Capital : Bathurst.

SIERRA LEONE

Colony and Protectorate have a Governor, a
nominated Executive Council, and a Legisla-
tive Council. Area of Colony about 4,000
square miles; population (1921), 85,163. Area
of Protectorate, 27,000 square miles; popula-
tion in 1921, 1,456,148. Chief exports: ginger,
kola nuts, palm kernels and oil. Railway mile-
age in 1927, 339; 877 miles of combined tele-
graph and telephone wires. Government and
mission schools. Population of Freetown,
44,142.

COLD COAST (with Ashanti and Northern Terri-
tories )

Administered by Governor with an Execu-
tive Council; Legislative Council. Area of
the Colony, Ashanti and Protectorate about
80,000 square miles; population in 1921, 2,078,-
043. Chief exports : cocoa, gold, manganese,
diamonds and kola nuts. Railway mileage,
394; mileage of telegraph trunks, 4,350; tele-
phone trunks, 4,635. Government and mission
schools. Population of Accra, 38,000.

NIGERIA (Colony and Protectorate)

Administered by Governor and Executive
Council who are also members of the Legis-
lative Council ; 2 Lieutenant Governors for the
Protectorate. Total area, about 335,700 square
miles; population, 18,765,690. Chief exports:
palm kernels and oils, cotton lint, cocoa, tin
ore and ground-nuts. Chief port, Lagos.

SOMALILAND PROTECTORATE

Administered by a Governor and nominated
Council. Area, about 68,000 s(iuare miles ;
population about 344,700. Chief exports :
skins, hides, gums and resins. 5 wireless tele-
graph stations. Mohammedanism prevails.
Chief towns : P>erbera and Hargeisa.

UGANDA PROTECTORATE

Administered by Governor assisted by
Executive Council ; Legislative Council. Total
area, 94,204 square miles (15,017 water) ; 1927
estimated population, 3,157,008. Chief exports:

cotton, coffee, rubber, hides and skin. Steam-
ship service on 3 lakes ; government motor
service ; length of telephone and telegraph line,
i>597 miles. British headquarters : Entebbe.

ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN

Divided into 15 provinces under Governors,
with Governor-General and Council in charge.
Total area, about 1,008,100 square miles; popu-
lation estimated in 1928 as 6,469,041. World's
chief source of gum arable and ivory. Chief
imports : cotton fabrics, finished metal tools,
other machinery, sugar, tobacco, millet and
coffee ; exports : gum arable, ivory, cotton,
timber, sesame and salt. Railway mileage,
about 1,802. Steamship service on Nile. 17
wireless stations and 12,130 miles of telephone
and telegraph wire. Government in charge of
education. Chief towns: Khartum (capital),
population, 31,965; and Omdurman, 79,238.

KENYA COLONY AND PROTECTORATE

Administered by Governor and Executive
Council ; Legislative Council ; divided into 7
provinces and 5 provincial districts. Total
area, about 225,100 square miles; population
estimate in 1926, 2,736,517. Chief exports: cot-
ton, coffee, fibres, corn, hides and skins, ivory
and timber. Kenya and Uganda Railway has
mileage of 589 (main line), 520 (branch).
British headquarters : Nairobi, population, 32,-
864; Alombasa, 39,824.

NYASALAND PROTECTORATE

Administered by Governor assisted by nomi-
nated Executive Council ; Legislative (Council ;
divided into 4 provinces. Total land area,
37,890 square miles ; population in 1927, 1,306,-
934. Chief exports: tobacco, cotton and tea.
Chief settlement, Blantyre.

NORTHERN RHODESIA

Administered by a Governor and an Execu-
tive Council ; Legislative Council. Total area,
287,950 square miles ; population, 1927 estimate.
7,275 Europeans and 1.237,486 natives. Seat of
government, Livingstone.

ISLANDS

The Zanzibar Protectorate is formed by the
islands of Zanzibar (area, 640 square miles)
and Pemba (area, 380 square miles) and ad-
jacent small islands in the Indian Ocean off
the east coast of Africa.

Seychelles and its Dependencies consist of
loi islands. 970 miles east of Zanzibar.

MANDATED TERRITORY: FACTS AND FIGURES

TOGO LAND

Former German territory now divided be-
tween France and Great Britain. British area,
about 12,600 square miles ; population, 188,265.
Administered by the Governor of Gold Coast.

BRITISH CAMEROONS

Former German territory now divided be-
tween France and Great Britain. British area,

34,236 square miles ; population about 700,050.
Administered by the Governor of Nigeria.

TANGANYIKA TERRITORY (Late German East
Africa)

Administered by a Governor and Executive
Council ; Legislative Council. Total area,
374.000 square miles (20,000 water) ; popula-
tion estimate in 1927, 4,324,300.

172

In the Heart of Africa

Among the Cannibals and Pigmies of the Congo

The Congo, Africa's second longest river, flows through the dark heart of
Africa and, with its mighty tributaries, taps the vast territories of the French
and Belgian Congo and Angola, Portugal's largest colony. Forests, where all
is dim and damp, cover huge portions of the Congo lands, and some of the most
savage and primitive people in the world are to be found in these mysterious
regions. In some places we shall be following the trails blazed by two famous
explorers, Livingstone and Stanley, who tore the veil of mystery that had
hidden the face of the Congo regions from the eyes of civilized man.

IN the year 1482 or 1483 a
little fleet of galleons led hy
Diogo Cao went cruising
along the west coast of Africa.
The huge sails were embla-
zoned with large red crosses,
and from the mastheads flut-
tered the banner of Portugal.
F^or months the fleet had sailed
slowly along that low coast,
with its lines of palm trees and
with the white surf breaking
ceaselessly upon the yellow
sand. The swampy mangrove
thickets at the mouths of the
Niger were passed ; the vast
Cameroon's volcano was
sighted and the Equator
crossed. Then the mouth of
a wide river opened out before
the adventurers.

From the natives, the ad-
venturers learned that the
river was called the "Kongo,"
and that the country just to
the south of it was ruled by a
great chief called M'wani This primitive artist first hews off a length of elephant tusk.
Knno-n TT nrri nf tViP Knncrn ^^^^ carves it with the CFude adze shown above, working
Kongo ( Lord ot the Ivongo fj.gghand but with generations of skill back of him, and
people ). the Portuguese Anally polishes the vase with silica crystals,

then began to trade with him,

American Aru?eum of Natural History

ELEPHANTS TUSK BECOMING A VASE

and eventually established a Jesuit Mis-
sion among his people.

The Portuguese did not go far up the
river because of the rapids which barred
their progress, and also because of the
savage tribes which attacked the expe-
ditions. For four hundred years little
was known of the river. In 1876, how-
ever, Henry M. Stanley, who had gained
fame by his expedition in search of Dr.

David Livingstone, the Scotch missionary-
explorer, was again in Central Africa and
came upon a river, called by the natives
Lualaba (Great River), which he thought
might be the Upper Nile and determined
to explore it.

He came in from Zanzibar on the east
coast in time to start in October from

Nyangwe, a ]wint on the Lualaba just
west of the upper part of Lake Tangan-

173

Harris

ARMOR OF MAGIC WAR PAINT SHIELDS THESE WARRIORS

When these warriors of the Belgian Congo prepare for a tribal fight they do not put their
trust solely in their shields and weapons, but daub themselves with magic paint that has
been charmed by their magicians. Unfortunately, if the enemy use stronger magic, the painl
is no protection, Note that the blade of the spear is notched like that of a saw,

1.74

WITCH DOCTOR OF A VILLAGE IN THE BELGIAN CONGO

In many villages the witch doctor is the real chief and rules his subjects by fear. He is
usually a good deal more intelligent than the people whom he deceives with his conjuring
tricks, hypnotism and feigned trances. He sells advice and spells to these simple and
ignorant folk and rids himself of his enemies l)y means of subtle poisons,

175

>
<

Q
W
H
Z

<
z

a
O

z
<
cc
H

a:
<
D
O

<
J

a
cc

73^

.no

o ^ ::::
Si

C t« (u

3 o o

n3 (u ^ >

C C3 O ^
O >- -5

e <u -G
03 C

t/3 oj a>

^ s

° '-^ n

c > 2

C t/2 c

t/3

C JO

176

178

IN THE HEART OE AERICA

yika. It was a region of
equatorial heat and heavy
winter rains, where the
waterways led through tan-
gled jungle forest made ter-
rifying at night by the howls
of tigers and almost equally
dangerous by day by reason
of the myriad fever-breeding
insects and the savage war-
riors who met them with
flights of arrows. The heat
was prostrating and food ran
low, and the three white men
who started with him died of
the almost incredible hard-
ships that met them all along
the way. Stanley himself
was prematurely aged by
these experiences, but he was
young and somehow managed
to pull through.

After a few portages near
the start where they had to
pass some falls and rapids,
the journey could be made
entirely by canoe. At times
the river widened into muddy
swamp lands or lakes bor-
dered by papyrus and other
reeds and grasses ; but for
the most part it flowed
through a tunnel of trees.
For weeks of travel the Lua-
laba led them northward,
then took a surprising sweep
to the westward and south-
westward as it became the
Congo. The following spring
they came to what is now
Stanley Pool or Leopold-
ville, and here the river nar-
rowed from three miles to perhaps three-
quarters of a mile, to go leaping and
thundering for 170 miles over rock-
walled cataracts. Below that long de-
tour, during which they had to hack
their way through all but impenetrable
underbrush, the stream was again navi-
gable ; and soon they reached Boma, a
port some seventy miles inland. The
Congo empties into an Atlantic stained
red-brown with river silt, as the stream

THE MOST FAMOUS BEARD IN

,1.. J. TI. Ilarns

CONGOLAND

This man is chief of a troublesome folk, but they are proud
of him, for plaited and coiled under his chin is his beard,
rather thin, but many feet long. Only on state occasions
does he uncoil it to the admiring public gaze.

widens over seven miles of delta fringed
with mangrove swamp. Stanley had
crossed the African continent from east
to west and had traced nearly two thou-
sand miles of navigable waterway. His
dramatic published accounts of his ad-
ventures were translated into several
languages.

A year after his discovery of what has
proven to be one of the world's largest
rivers, which drains a basin correspond-

180

IX THE HE ART OE AERICA

in^ly vast. Kin^ T.eoi)olcl IT of Belgium
formed an association for the opening of
the Congo basin to commerce. To secure
peace and further trade relations with the
natives, he made hundreds of treaties with
small independent African sovereigns.
As a consequence, in 1885 the Congo

b^ree State was founded with King Leo-
l)()ld as ruler. The state was ceded to
Belgium, however, in 1908, and in 1927
its territory was increased by an exchange
with Portugal which gave the latter
country area for a port in the estuary of
the Congo near iMatadi.

Beale

RIVER OF ANGOLA SPANNED BY A FLIMSY BRIDGE OF CREEPERS

When the natives of Angola wish to build a bridge, they go into the forest and cut down
some of the creepers that are to be found on all sides. From these they make the bridge,
which is suspended from tree trunks on either bank. It is not easy for even a native to
pass over one of these bridges, as the footway is narrow and uneven.

181

IX THE HEART OF AFRICA

The main products of the Belgian
Congo proved to be the ivory of elephant
tusks and the products of the palm and
rubber trees, together with resin, copal
and certain vegetable fibres. The Bel-
gians are making experiments in growing
cotton.

What of the people of the Congo? Let
us journey up the river for perhaps a
thousand miles. Here and there the na-
tive villages peep from amid the close
green foliage. (3ur little steamer blows
her whistle, and in a moment we see dusky
figures gathering on the beach, r^-
Several dug-out canoes put out |
to meet us. The former war-
riors have become peaceable
fisher-folk.

Our steamer slows down,
and drops its anchor. As we
go ashore, the people crowd
around us, moved by curiosity.
The day has long passed when
they feared the white man,
but a chance visit never fails
to create excitement. They
wear little clothing and their
chocolate-brown bodies are
tattooed. They have their
front teeth filed to points, like
the teeth of a saw, and their
tribal marks are cut on their
faces. These marks are cut
deeply in the flesh of the
cheeks and forehead with a
sharp iron instrument. It is
a painful process and not in-
frequently causes blood-poi-
soning or lockjaw. Large and
small dug-outs are drawn up
on the beach, and fishing-nets,
attached to wooden frames,
lie drying in the sun. Fish-
traps, too, made of split bam-
boo or of the cane called rat-
tan, are in evidence. From one
dug-out the day's catch of fish
is just being landed and car-
ried up to the village market.
Now the smell of the salt tide
mingles with a welcome taint
of wood smoke, for beyond the
beach is the village with its

two long rows of huts built facing one
another. The lower end opens on the
shore, but the upper end is closed to en-
able the villagers to defend themselves in
case they are attacked by neighboring
tribes ; for behind the village is the pri-
meval forest that extends for hundreds of
miles.

The oblong huts are made of bamboo
and thatch. It is interesting to watch the
people building a hut. First a framework
is erected, that is, long bamboo poles are
driven into the ground and lashed to-

IIoIme5

PLASTERING WITHOUT TROWELS

Portuguese Congoans are of the Bantu-negroid family. Like
the natives farther north in Nigeria, these ISIbamba people
use few tools. They do even their plastering by hand alone,
patting the clay on by the primitive method shown above.

182

YOUTHS OF ANGOLA WEARING MASKS AND QUAINT COSTUMES

In most African tribes the initiation of young men who have "come of age" into the full
rights of manhood is accompanied by much elaborate ceremony. In Angola, or Portu-
guese West Africa, the youths who take part in the rites of initiation wear white masks
that are skillfully carven, however hideous, and ruffs and skirts of frayed leaves.

gether with cross-pieces and fi1)re. Then
the big thatched roof of dry palm leaves
is added, and last, the framework walls
are covered with coconut matting.

Near the houses a space has been
cleared in the forest to make gardens in
which people grow yams, cassava and
other vegetables ; and there is likely to be
a fragrant plantation of banana trees,
their bright green leaves contrasting with
those of the mango trees and the palms.
The women cultivate the gardens and
take the produce to the village, using big
funnel-shaped baskets of split bamboo
which they carry on their backs. Their
task is not a little dangerous, for as a
woman stoops to her work it is no un-
common thing for a leopard from the
forest to spring murderously upon her.

One strange custom is that the boys,
while still quite young, leave home and
join in builcling a hut and keeping house
for themselves. They provide food by

catching fish, trapping birds, squirrels and
monkeys. They even stretch strings from
the trees to catch bats. One of their chief
delights is ratting, and many a nice plump
field mouse finds its way into their cook-
ing pot. Large hairy caterpillars, ants
and beetles are also enjoyed.

There are two people in the village we
must certainly visit — the chief and the
witch doctor. We exchange greetings,
then the chief leads us to his dwelling or
the public ''palaver house," where he holds
a reception in our honor. Two or three
European camp chairs may be brought
out of the dark recesses of some hut and
placed for us, while the chief takes his
seat on a stool or in a hammock. We again
exchange pleasantries, tell the chief why
we have come to his village and make him
a present — possibly a hatchet, a piece of
cloth or even an alarm clock. In return,
he gives us bananas, eggs, yams, coconuts,
a couj^le of chickens or perhaps a goat.

183

184

/.V THE HEART OF AFRICA

The witch doctor is the
priest of the village, and the
people fear him because they
believe he has power to com-
mand evil spirits ; but he sells
them charms to protect them
from wild beasts, sickness, evil
men and even those selfsame
evil spirits. The people also
think that he can bring dread-
ful diseases upon the village
cr cause a man to die. He is
usually a cunning rogue, able
to mix powerful poisons, and
is certainly a man to be greatly
feared where his enmity is
incurred.

The Congo basin is inhab-
ited by many tribes speaking
different languages. Some vil-
lages are not at all like the one
we have described.

To-day a belt of valuable
mines two hundred miles long
extends through the highlands.
Lubambashi in Katanga gives
Belgium the world's most fa-
mous copper district, and the
natives who are partly civi-
lized are kept busy at the mines
and smelting works. In the
south and east highlands there
are also gold, radium, dia-
monds, platinum and coal.
Though the navigable water-
ways are still the important
highways, short lengths of rail-
road have been made to con-
nect them and there is much
talk of automobile roads and
the maintenance of an air mail service.

For centuries there were rumors that
a race of small black people existed in the
heart of Africa, and many travelers and
historians of past centuries had mentioned
these dwarfs. In 1863-65 P. B. Du
Chaillu came upon them. In 1887 Stan-
ley, while passing through a vast forest
between the Congo and Lake Albert,
found numbers of these little people.
Some of them were only three feet in
height. They were so small that the ex-
plorer often thought his scouts had

Beale

NATIVE WIRELESS IN ANGOLA

Here we see the mondo or message-drum used in the
Zombo highlands. By beating upon this wooden instru-
ment the natives can send sonorous messages in code for
long distances. News travels rapidly by this means.

caught children, until he perceived that
they were full grown men and women.
The women averaged but four feet in
height and none of the men were over
four feet six inches.

These tiny black folk live by hunting,
and they are extraordinarily skillful at
tracking game through the dark, swampy
forests and killing it with their bows and
arrows. They live in villages of small
grass huts shaped like bee-hives. Stanley
found one village of ninety-two huts. But
the pigmies were very shy and always de-

185

IN THE HEART OF AFRICA

serted their villages
as Stanley's men ap-
proached, although
from time to time a
few were captured
and examined. These
villages they aban-
don when they feel
the need to move on,
for a time, to where
game is more plenti-
ful. These forest
dwarfs of the hid-
den recesses of the
Congo are better
termed Negrillos.

The vast basin of
the Congo does not
all belong to Bel-
gium. Thirty - five
years before Stan-
ley unveiled the se-
crets of the river, the
French had settle-
ments on the Gabun
River, some five hun-
dred miles north of
the mouth of the
Congo, as we see in
another article. Then
in 1880 de Brazza
placed under French
protection a portion
of the north bank of
the Congo — from
below Stanley Pool
for four hundred
miles to Ubangi.
From here the whole
northern bank of the
Ubangi to the bor-
ders of the Anglo-
Egyptian Sudan is
French. It is there-
fore seen that al-
most all the northern
tributaries of the

Congo flow through French territory.

While many northern tributaries of the
Congo water French possessions, some of
the southern tributaries rise in Portuguese
soil. In the fifteenth century, when the
mariners and soldier-adventurers of Por-

WARRIOR SUBJECT OF

This tall native of the French Congo lands,
with his long, broad-bladed spear, is a born
warrior. Fighting is the greatest pleasure
of the wild tribesmen of this region.

tugal found the way
up the main river
blocked by rapids,
they turned their at-
tention to the coun-
try immediately to
the south — the do-
minions of that King
of Kongo above men-
tioned. Long years
of exploration, con-
quest and coloniza-
tion have resulted in
the establishment of
Portuguese rule over
a vast tract known as
Angola, the capital
of which, the an-
cient port city of
Loanda, has rail con-
nection with the in-
terior. The region
is adapted to the
growing of sugar
and cofifee and the
raising of oxen, but
the territory is
largely undeveloped.

In both the French
and the Portuguese
Congo the natives,
with the exception
of the pure Negrillos
(pigmies), belong to
the great Bantu fam-
ily ; and in times past
supplied the slave
traffic to a very large
degree.

Though it is ru-
mored that in certain
tribes, rites involv-
ing human sacrifice
are practiced, as
when a man's wives
are buried with him,
little is really known.
The Chicago Field Museum of Natural
History is, however, sending an expedi-
tion to work inland from the coast of An-
gola with native carriers, pack-mules and
bullock-carts to learn, if possible, the se-
cret rituals of this primitive people.

E. N. A.
FRANCE

187

American Museum of Natural History

RATTLE-DRUMS, TOM-TOMS AND HORNS FOR THE TRIBAL DANCE

IN THE HEART OF AFRICA: FACTS AND FIGURES

BELGIAN CONGO

Belgian Colony in Equatorial Africa occupy-
ing the greater part of the basin of the Congo
River. Administered by the Minister for the
Colonies appointed by the King and the Co-
lonial Council consisting of 15 members.
Legislation for the Colony is vested in Parlia-
ment. The King is represented in the Colony
by a Governor-General. For administrative
purposes the Colony is divided into 21 districts
grouped into 5 Provinces, each with a Gover-
nor. The estimated area of the Colony is
918,000 square miles ; the native population is
about 8,500,000; the white population in 1928
was 20,702. The chief products are palm-nuts
and palm-oil, white copal, rubber and cacao
Gold, diamonds, copper and tin are mined
The chief exports are : copper (ore and crude),
palm-nuts, palm-oil, cotton, rubber and tin ;
chief imports : machinery, provisions, cottons
and alcoholic beverages. State steamship ser-
vice on Congo; railway mileage, 1928, 2,187.
Length of telegraph line, 3,090 miles ; telephone
line, 2,520; 19 wireless telegraph stations.
Protestant and Catholic mission schools, gov-
ernment-aided; 231,684 pupils in elementary
schools. Capital, Leopoldville.

FRENCH EQUATORIAL AFRICA (French Congo)
Consists of the four colonies of Gabun.
Middle Congo, Ubangi-Shari and Chad. Each
of the colonies has a Lieutenant-Governor; they
have financial and administrative autonomy
and each has an administrative council. The

Lieutenant-Governors are under the Governor-
General of French Equatorial Africa who is
assisted by a Secretary-General and a Council
of Government. Total area, 912,049 square
miles; population in 1926, 3,127,707. Natural
resources largely undeveloped. About 300,000
square miles of tropical forest containing
valuable timber. Large numbers of domestic
animals and ostriches are raised ; coffee, cacao
and cotton are cultivated. Ivory is exported.
Length of telegraph line, 3.253 miles. In 1927.
there were 50 public schools with 3..S53 pupils.

ANGOLA (Portuguese West Africa)

Portuguese colony administered by a High
Commissioner, stationed at Loanda. The
colony is divided into 12 administrative dis-
tricts. The area is 484.800 square miles and
population in 1926 was 2,481,956. Chief prod-
ucts are coffee, rubber, wax, sugar, vegetable
oils, coconuts and ivory. Petroleum, asphalt,
malachite, copper, iron and salt are found.
Chief exports : corn, coffee, diamonds and
dried fish ; chief imports : textiles. Railway
mileage. 818; 7.452 miles of telegraph lines.
Government, municipal, and mission schools
with about 4.752 pupils. Capital. Loanda.

RIO MUNI (SMiiisli Guinea)

Spanish colony on the Gulf of Guinea ad-
jacent to French Equatorial Africa, under the
control of a Governor-General with head-
quarters at Santa Isabel on the island of
Fernando Po. The area is 10.036 square miles.

MANDATED TERRITORY IN CENTRAL AFRICA: FACTS AND FIGURES

RUANDA-IRUNI

Former German East Africa, now adminis-
tered by Belgium under a League of Nations
Mandate as the fifth Province of Belgian

Congo with a Vice-Governor at the head.
Total area, about 20.550 square miles. Capital,
Usumbura. Both districts are rich in cattle.
Exports are livestock, hides and foodstuff's.

188

From Cape Town to the Zambezi

People of South Africa's Cities, Veld and Deserts

Zulus, Boers and the boundless veld are the three things of which we are most
likely to think when our thoughts turn to South Africa. The Zulus, under
their great leader Chaka, dominated this part of the African continent in the
early part of the nineteenth century ; the Dutch were the first settlers, and
much of the agricultural prosperity of South Africa is due to their skillful
farming. ("Boer" is the Dutch word for farmer, or peasant.) The veld is the
open grasslands over which are scattered thousands of prosperous farms.
But we shall also visit fine cities, gold and diamond mines, splendid orchards
and sugar-cane plantations, and primitive peoples such as the Bushmen and
the Herreros of the vast Southwest Africa Protectorate.

THE Union of South Africa, down
at the tip of the continent where
January is the hot month, is di-
vided into four provinces — Cape of Good
Hope, Natal, Transvaal and Orange
Free State. The population, which is
comparable to that of New York City or
London, is five-sevenths colored.

The Cape of Good Hope was dis-
covered by the Portuguese navigator,
Bartholomew Diaz in i486, but the first
attempt to colonize this pleasant pastoral
region was made by the Dutch in 1652.
The Cape really became a British colony
in 1806, but up to 1820 the majority of
the white population was of Dutch de-
scent. Natal was settled by both English
and Boers, beginning about 1824, and be-
came a British colony in 1844-45. During
1835-38 many of the Dutch farmers, or
Boers, were dissatisfied with the British
administration which disapproved of their
enslaving the Hottentots, and trekked
north. Eventually they created the two
Dutch republics of the Transvaal, north
of the Vaal River, and the Orange Free
State. Gold-mining began in the Trans-
vaal in 1882, and the discovery of gold
brought a great increase of prosperity to
South Africa — until the outbreak of the
South African War (1899-1902).

Later, strenuous efforts were made to
develop the land more fully and to unite
the different elements in the population,
the English and the Boers of Dutch de-
scent. These efforts were crowned with
success in 1910, when the Union of South
Africa was formed. Since the World
War the region that was formerly Ger-

man Southwest Africa has also been ad-
ministered by the Union government
under a mandate from the League of Na-
tions. Southern Rhodesia, that part of
Rhodesia situated 1)etween the Transvaal
and the River Zambezi, is also dealt with
in this chapter.

We shall start our tour of South Africa
from Cape Town, which is at the south-
ernmost end of the African continent. It
lies on Table Bay beneath the shadow of
Table ^Mountain, part of which is, as its
name suggests, flat-topped, and part of
which looks, in the distance, like a lion's
head. Cape Town is the oldest settle-
ment in South Africa and an important
port of call. In its streets we shall see
not only British people and the Boers,
with their large, wide-awake hats, but
Kafffrs (the natives of the colony) and
coolies from India and Malaya. Native
boys and girls, dressed in all sorts of
gaudy costumes, sell heather in the
streets, for the heather that grows near
Cape Town is famous for its beauty and
variety of color.

Traveling northward from Cape Town,
we pass through a region of rugged, bar-
ren mountains and fertile, well-watered
valleys in which the earliest European set-
tlers— the Dutch and French Huguenots
— made their homes. This land is beau-
tiful and fertile and produces fruit in
abundance, particularly grapes.

North of this again we reach the great
tableland of the Karroo, a vast plateau
broken up by small hills called * 'kopjes."
It is sparsely covered with small bushes
of a dull olive srreen which are known as

189

0) (A a>

PQ o.S ^

-r^ O -M
»-i c3 c3 fl

.. . t«

Xi ^>''^

•7? ^ a o

bC O

190

191

192

^ o 2

0) o

C O

c °

"^-^
3 OS'S

o) 0) n

^ a
0) oi 2

p o ?J 35

■4_> »vj M

t/i 2^ o

.S2 Q *t S

as §

d =^ «J

Gob:

P S ^

d
i-i

O) »_ ;r •.

O <rS

M bc CO u

193

194

FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE ZAMBEZI

Karroo bush. The air is clear, and we
can consequently see very far. Indeed,
rocks and big stones lying on hills several
miles away stand out so boldly that we
can almost count them. Occasionally we
pass farms nestling among the hills, sur-
rounded by small gardens and orchards,
and here and there we cross a stream.

INIost of the streams, however, dry up
during the hot season : then water must
be obtained from springs or by artificial
means. In the early summer, if there
has been a good rainfall, the Karroo be-
comes a wonderful flower garden, and it
is possible to gather as many as sixty va-
rieties of flowers ; but this period does
not last long. At the end of about two
months the flowers are dead and the
Karroo is again a desolate waste.

The Karroo is inhal^ited chiefly by
British and Boer farmers, whose homes
are often from twenty to fifty miles apart.
The native inhabitants are largely Kaffirs.
Hottentots and Bushmen.

All this time we have l^een traveling
through Cape of Good Hope Province,
but when we pass over the Orange River
we cross into the Orange Free State.
Here commences the highest and largest
South African plateau, which extends
across the Orange Free State, Bechuana-
land and into the Transvaal, which adjoins
Southern Rhodesia.

World's Richest Gold Field

West of Bechuanaland is the Kalahari
Desert, which was once the home of vast
herds of game, but is now a useless waste.
The Kalahari stretches into the South-
west Africa Protectorate, a desolate re-
gion rich in minerals, lying between An-
gola and Cape of Good Hope Province.
In the east of South Africa is a lofty
range, the Drakensberg Mountains, and
between them and the coast is the
province of Natal.

Kimberley and Johannesburg are the
two principal cities in South Africa
from the point of view of wealth and
industry. Kimberley is noted for its dia-
monds and Johannesburg lies in the
richest gold belt in the world. In the
gold mines, shafts several thousand feet

deep have been sunk in the earth, and
galleries have been driven out in all di-
rections at the bottom in the search for
gold, of which there seems to be a never-
ending supply.

In 1835, as has been already stated, the
l)oers began to leave Cape Colony with
their herds and flocks to settle in a land
where they could live as they wished. To
reach the Transvaal, where they founded
a separate republic, these emigrants had
to pass through the country of the Zulus,
a warlike people who had conquered a
large part of South Africa and possessed
a vast army of trained warriors.

Boers Fight with the Zulus

( )nc morning in the summer of 1836
it was reported that the Zulus were ad-
vancing to attack the emigrants. The
Boers therefore formed their wagons into
a square and piled branches between the
wheels in order to prevent the natives
from squeezing through. Then, with the
women and children to load the rifles and
prepare the ammunition, they waited for
the black army to attack. This it soon
did, opening out to right and left in the
shape of two horns in order to encircle
the wagons. The Zulus came on in thou-
sands, seizing the wagons and trying to
wrest them apart, ripping up the canvas
covers with their broad-bladed spears and
yelling their fierce war cries. But the
Boer men and women fought with great
determination and at last beat ofif the
enemy. The Zulus, however, took away
all their sheep and cattle and they would
have starved but for the arrival of fresh
parties who joined them in their north-
ward trek.

Harvest Time Among the Matabele

The Matabele, who are a branch of the
Zulu race, found in Southern Rhodesia,
are among the best known of the South
African tribes. They are tall, fine-look-
ing people and live in round huts, with
doors only some two feet in height. Their
diet consists of meat, corn meal, milk and
a form of native beer which they drink
in large quantities. They have several
festivals during the year, the chief of

195

PRESIDENT'S RESIDENCE THAT IS GALLED A BARN

This handsome building, so beautifully situated among the trees on the slope of a hill, is
Groote Schuur — Great Barn — the old Dutch home of Cecil Rhodes at Rondebosch. It is
now held in trust as the official residence of the President of the Union when he is at Cape
Town, for it is only five miles from that city.

South African (lovi.

HOW MAILS ARE CARRIED ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE KALAHARI

This is the post office of Mariental, in what was once German Southwest Africa. From the
fact that camels are the mail-carriers we know it must be in desert country. Indeed, the
great Kalahari Desert stretches eastward for wearisome miles. The coastal strip of South-
west Africa is also barren, but the central highlands are more habitable.

196

South African Govt.

PIETERMARITZBURG IN AN AMPHITHEATRE OF HILLS

From the tower that surmounts the town hall we can here look down upon Pietermaritzburg
and see the straight line of Church Street reaching away toward the surrounding hills.
Pietermaritzburg, which has direct rail connections with the Transvaal, is the capital of
Natal, a country of vast sugar and other plantations.

197

« 5z

Z
O

O
X

D
O

Of!
W

a u i-^
o o o

<-t-i

he ^

2 O

O t«

H C

) O OJ '•^

c »- <u
fc 2 >

> «+H J3

O ^ be

bcv, ^

^ ^ u

^ OJ

^ *j o

' TD O

5 o.ti

<U <U (L) ®

bc^ ^ -

13 X) >

a; o

> ?3 t/3

^ rt £

198

A iciiolls

LIKE HIS FATHER, THE BOER BOY RIDES AND CARRIES A GUN

Formerly the boy in a Dutch Afrikander, or Boer, family would be sent out early in the
morning with only one cartridge and would be expected to bring back game for the table.
That shows what a high value was set upon marksmanship. The people called Boers
are the sturdy descendants of the early Dutch colonists.

which comes at harvest time. On the
great day, when the harvest has been a
good one, all collect in a vast square in
the village of the tribal chief. There may
be as many as two or three thousand war-
riors formed in a semicircle eight or nine
deep, each man with his assagai, or spear,
and shield. They then begin to chant a
song, keeping time with their feet ; oc-
casionally they beat wath their assagais

on their ox-hide shields, making a noise
like thunder.

Now a man who has performed sonvj
great deed will spring out from among
the warriors and execute a dance, thrust-
ing with his assagai and otherwise show-
ing how he would dispose of his enemies.
Nearly all the warriors wear ostrich
feathers stuck in their hair and have coats
of the skins of different animals.

199

TAILINGS WHEEL USED AT A GOLD MINE IN THE TRANSVAAL

There are two important minerals for which South Africa is renowned — one of these is gold,
the other diamonds. The Witwatersrand, or the "Rand," is the most famous gold lield.
It is in the Transvaal, just west of Johannesburg. Here we see a "tailings wheel," which
removes the refuse from which the ore has been extracted.

200

South African Rlys.

LOOKING OVER THE HOUSE-TOPS OF JOHANNESBURG

Johannesburg did not even exist until 1886 and the land, poor for farming, sold cheap.
Suddenly gold was found at Witwatersrand (pronounced with a v). Ten years later two
building plots were sold for about $100,000 apiece. The city is now the largest in South
Africa. Cosmopolitan, energetic, it has become a bustling railroad and industrial centre.

The Bechuanas are another of the na-
tive races of South Africa and live in
much the same v^ay as the Matabele.
They have the curious custom of adopt-
ing some animal as a sort of tribal mas-
cot. Sometimes it is a crocodile, or it
may be an antelope, a monkey or an
elephant. Their dress is usually a cloak
made from skins, and they are fond of
ornaments in the shape of bracelets and
anklets of beads, metal and the teeth of
wild animals. For weapons they have
assagais, small daggers and clubs called
knobkerries, often beautifully carved.

The Bechuanas also are fond of danc-
ing, and when several thousand of them
perform together the scene is really splen-
did. Their marriage customs are simi-
lar to those of other South African tribes.
The wife is acquired by purchase, her
value varying according to her looks and
her reputation as a housekeeper.

Rhodesia is named after Cecil Rhodes,
a pioneer who in 1889 organized the Brit-
ish South African Company. It was also
the land of Livingstone. We have pic-
tured the country that he described, the
waterfalls, which hamper water trans-
portation, the herds of elephants, the rhi-
noceros and hippopotami in the rivers,
and the lions lurking in the jungle. If

we go to Rhodesia to-day, however, we
shall find that the elephants have largely
disappeared, though lions are still to be
found back in the bush. Rhodesia is a
lofty tableland with a semi-tropical cli-
mate and beautiful scenery. It is rich
in minerals, especially gold. On the
Zambezi River, which flows through Rho-
desia, are Victoria Falls, the mightiest
falls in the world and a favorite with tour-
ists, which we show in the chapter The
Wonder of the Waterfall.

Southwest of Rhodesia lies the Kala-
hari Desert, where there is little rain
and the precious springs are few and far
between. The Kalahari is not like the
usual desert, for it has small trees and
bushes and occasional herds of antelope.
Its inhabitants are a dwarf race known as
Bushmen and Hottentots ; their language
is one of clicks, made by peculiar move-
ments of the tongue inside the mouth.
Each click has a certain meaning. These
little brown people wander from place to
place without settled habitation, sleeping
under rocks or in the shelter of trees and
bushes, with a rough lean-to of brush-
wood. Even in the old days they had no
flocks or herds and lived from hand to
mouth, existing on the game of the
country, which they shot with their bows

201

k>< T3 ^

a o

£ ^ S

i2-- c o
.1=1, c

bc . ^ o

c £ o c

c c

202

203

PROM CAPE TOWN TO THE ZAMBEZI

and arrows. The bows they made from
the branches of trees and the strings from
the sinews of wild animals. For warfare
they used arrows that were poisoned by
being dipped in juice obtained from a
plant or from a certain caterpillar. They
still follow their old form of life, and when
brought into touch with civilization they
often pine away and die.

The Bushmen are especially interesting
because their ancestors painted pictures
of animals on rocks and in caves. These
pictures are really amazing, considering
that they were done by primitive men.
They are finished with an accuracy that
we cannot surpass to-day, and are still in
a wonderful state of preservation. The
Bushmen once occupied all South Africa
from the Cape to the Zambezi, but they
have gradually been driven before other
and more powerful tribes, until now they
inhabit only the Kalahari, Bechuanaland
and Southwest Africa.

Living close to Nature, they are won-
derfully active and notice everything that
is going on around them. They have a
highly developed sense of direction and
can find their way about on the darkest
night. Though very small, they are in-
credible eaters. One man, it is said, will
eat half a sheep at a sitting, and for him
to dispose of forty to fifty bananas at a
meal is nothing uncommon.

The Bushmen's homes are simple
affairs. As the tribes are constantly on
the move, their household goods consist
of a few earthenware pots, spears and
clubs for hunting and for use in warfare,
ostrich eggs to carry water, tortoise-shells
for holding food when in camp, and a few
skins of wild animals for rugs and
blankets. These little black men are
excellent hunters ; once an animal is
wounded they follow it up until it is ex-
hausted. Their powers of endurance are
equal to those of the wild beasts, and they
will run down a wounded deer even on
the hottest day, keeping their quarry con-
stantly on the move and allowing it no rest
until it drops. A party of Bushmen once
pursued a wounded giraffe for a distance
of more than forty miles ; then, when they
had killed it, they went back the same

205

FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE ZAMBEZI

distance to bring up their families to
indulge in the feast.

The Bushmen's knowledge of the habits
of animals is probably unsurpassed. They
seem to know exactly what an animal is
going to do. They will watch a flight of
bees high up in the skies where it is prac-
tically invisible to a white man. They
will follow it until they reach the tree
where the bees have their combs and steal
the honey.

The Bushmen have many quaint be-
liefs. They say that when one of their
number dies his spirit goes on a long
journey until it arrives at a place where
others have gone before, and that when
they meet they share the hunting-grounds
together. To them the wind, the dust,
storms, lightning and all things in Na-
ture are associated with spirits and are
regarded with considerable fear.

They also believe that men and women
can, in another existence, change them-
selves into animals. They regard natural
phenomena as living things, but they do
not worship either the sun or the moon.
They remark, however, that the sun re-
tires to bed each night and gets up in the
morning like a human being.

Huge Hats of the Herrero Women

Southwest Africa, which was German
territory until the end of the World War,
is inhabited by the Herreros, a j^astoral
tribe whose dress is especially remark-
able. The women wear huge caps made
of skins, which terminate in three points
like horns and from each of which hangs
an ornament. The weight of this head-
dress is often great, yet, despite the heat
and the discomfort, no Herrero woman
would dream of appearing without her
hat. In addition to this she has heavy
metal ornaments, and her arms are cov-
ered with bracelets or what appear to be
pieces of metal piping.

The customs of the Herreros are often
cruel ; for instance, those who are suf-
fering from some disease which is be-
lieved to be incurable are left in a hut in
the jungle until death or some wild ani-
mal makes an end of them. Old i)eopk'
are treated in the same way.

Hei 0 of a Famous Duel

In Natal we find the Zulus and the
Swazis, whose manners and customs are
somewhat similar, as the Swazis fell
under the dominion of the newly consti-
tuted Zulu nation in the early nineteenth
century. Before the Zulu War in 1879
this tribe was organized into regiments
and constantly engaged in wars and war-
like preparations. They lived in large
villages of huts, as they do now, and
waged war on all the neighboring tribes,
establishing such a reputation for ferocity
that no tribe could oppose them.
. When a Zulu army returned from any
expedition, the men were paraded before
the chief, who directed them to bring out
any who had shown fright in warfare.
These unfortunates were instantly killed
as an exami)le to the others. Much of the
influence that Great Britain afterward ac-
(juired over the Zulus was due to a Brit-
ish subject. Colonel Johann Colenbrander,
who lived for years among them.

He is said to be the only white man
who has ever killed a Zulu warrior in
single combat. The great duel took place
on uneven ground, and just at the begin-
ning of it the white man's weapon was
rendered useless by a blow from the
Zulu's battle-ax. The latter also carried
an assagai. But the white man closed
with him and after a desperate struggle
actually succeeded in lifting the Zulu in
the air, working his spear around him and
impaling him on the weapon.

Plantation Coolies from India

^Nlany of the native inhabitants of South
Africa are employed as servants or farm
laborers or in the gold and diamond mines
and factories. They regard this work as
being only temi)orary. and when they have
earned sufficient money to buy a wife or
some land they give it up.

In the districts where tea is grown
there are thousands of Indian coolies who
work on the plantations, and they enjoy
certain privileges which are denied the
native races.

Sugar-cane has been i)lantccl success-
ful]}' in South Africa. Indeed, large

Nicholls

TWO STICKS INSTEAD OF ASSAGAIS ARE CARRIED BY THIS ZULU

The Zulus, descendants of a race of warriors who were the overlords of the greater part of
southeastern Africa, still retain their pride. If this powerfully built man were armed with
assagais and had the ring of a proven warrior upon his head, he would be a counterpart of
the Zulus of the nineteenth century who formed Chaka's regiments.

207

TWO WORKERS ARE SUFFICIENT TO BUILD A ZULU HOUSE

Somewhat resembling beehives in shape, the Zulu huts are made by fixing flexible branches
firmly in the ground and bending them over to form hoops. These are interlaced with other
branches, and the whole structure is thatched. By the man on the ground is the door, which
is so low that people can pass through only on hands and knees.

Craft

ZULU DOCTOR CONSULTING WITH HIS CLIENTS

At one time the Zulu witch doctors were very powerful and had considerable influence over
the chiefs. They used to "smell out" criminals by means of magic, but this custom was
suppressed by the British. Now they are consulted by the people upon many occasions
nnd also prescribe treatment for both man and beast.

208

South African Govt.

LOYAL CITIZENS WHO WERE ONCE THE WHITE MAN'S ENEMIES

Both the Boers and the British had to fight the Zulus, the most warlike of the Bantu tribes-
and it is only within comparatively recent times that the Zulus have settled down as peaceful
citizens. This fellow is ready to perform the war-dance. He is holding a knobkerry, the
Zulu club. The young women have stylishly waxed their hair.

209

FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE ZAMBEZI

areas are given over to sugar-growing.
Here too we shall find Indian coolies ex-
tensively employed on the plantations ;

but if we go into a Natal sugar refinery
we shall see "black boys" at work oper-
ating the machinery.

FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE ZAMBEZI: FACTS AND FIGURES

THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA

A British Dominion, consisting of the
provinces of Cape of Good Hope, Natal,
Transvaal and the Orange Free State. There
is a Governor-General and an Executive Coun-
cil in charge of the Departments of State ;
legislative power vested in a Parliament con-
sisting of the Governor-General, representing
the King, a Senate and House of Assembly.
Each province has an Administrator and an
elected Provincial Council. The total area of
the Union is 471,917 square miles; the total
estimated population in 1927 was 7-659,399, of
which 1,708,955 were Europeans. Agriculture,
stock-raising and mining are the principal
occupations. Chief crops : corn, wheat, pota-
toes, oats, Kaffir corn, barley and tobacco.
Mineral products are : gold, diamonds, coal,
copper, asbestos and tin. Chief imports : cot-
ton piece goods, motor cars, wearing apparel,
furniture and electrical machinery; chief ex-
ports : gold, sheep's wool, diamonds, hides
and skins and corn. Railway mileage in 1927,
11,198; length of telephone wire, 336,331 miles;
telegraph wire, 37,107. Elementary education
controlled by the 4 provinces. In 1926 there
were 620,307 students in state and state-aided
institutions other than schools of higher edu-
cation; University of South Africa has 6 con-
stituent colleges ; 2 other provincial universi-
ties. Many rehgious denominations repre-
sented. Estimated population of chief towns
in 1927: Johannesburg (Transvaal), 314,980;
Cape Town (Cape), 246,287; Durban (Natal),
108,349; Pretoria (Transvaal), 72,569; Port
Elizabeth (Cape), 54,295.

BECHUANALAND PROTECTORATE

Territory divided into 11 districts for ad-
ministrative purposes; native chiefs rule;
Resident Commissioner in Maf eking; assistant
Resident Commissioner in Francistown. Coun-
try largely pastoral ; 30,050 head of cattle ex-
ported during year 1927-28.

SOUTHERN RHODESIA

Governor assisted by an Executive Council
and advisory native councils (optional), and a
Legislative Assembly. Total area, 149,000
square miles ; estimated population in 1927.
995,968. Education receives government aid.
Agriculture, stock-raising and ^ mining chief

occupations. Chief crops are corn, tobacco anc
citrus fruits; chief exports are gold, tobacco,
foodstuffs, asbestos and chrome ore. Railway
and motor services. Chief towns : Salisbury
(capital), population, 20,137; Bulawayo, 18,674.

SWAZILAND

Under jurisdiction of High Commissioner
for South Africa represented by Resident Com-
missioner at Mbabane. The area, 6,704 square
miles; population (1921), 112,338. Chief oc-
cupations, agriculture and stock-raising. Chief
exports : cattle, tin, tobacco, hides and cotton.
Education government-aided. Daily motor car
service on main routes.

BASUTOLAND

Governed by a Resident Commissioner under
the direction of the High Commissioner for
South Africa; legislative authority vested in
High Commissioner. Area. 11,716 square
miles; population in 1921. 499,781. Chief ex-
ports: wool, wheat, mohair. Kaffir corn and
corn. Education government-aided. Popu-
lation of Maseru (capital), 2,289.

MOZAMBIQUE (Portuguese East Africa)

Consists of 3 distinct entities (i) Province of
Mozambique, administered by the state (area.
295,000 square miles) ; (2) territory under the
Companhia de Mozambique (area, 58,840 square
miles) ; and (3) territory under the Com-
panhia do Nyassa (area, 73.292 square miles).
The total population is 3.482,914. Chief ex-
ports are sugar, raw cotton and corn. Rail-
way communication. 7,452 miles of telegraph
line in 1925. Chief ports : Mozambique and
Beira.

ISLANDS

Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean. 500 miles
east of Madagascar, has an area of about 720
square miles. The population of the island
and its dependencies was 385.074 in 1921. A
British colony, it is governed by a Governor
assisted by an Executive Council, and Council
of Government composed of the Governor and
27 elected or nominrted members. Chief ex-
ports : sugar, copra and poonac. aloe fibre and
coconut oil. Railway mileage (all kinds). 144;
telephone line mileage. 116; telegraph, 400.
Education government-aided.

MANDATED TERRITORY IN SOUTH AFRICA: FACTS AND FIGURES

SOUTHWEST AFRICA

Former German territory now administered
by the Union of South Africa. Administrator
with full authority to legislate ; native com-
missioner at Windhoek in charge of native
affairs in the Territory. Total area, 312,194

square miles ; population estimate in 1926.
258,905 ; chief occupation is stock-raising.
Diamonds, copper, vanadium and marble are
mined. Railway mileage (all kinds). 1.868;
telenhcnie and telegraph systems. Population
of Windhoek (capital) and environs, 15.091.

210

Mysterious Madagascar

Interesting Island Torn From Africa

Ages ago Madagascar became a vast island, after having been a part of the
continent of Africa. To-day a sweep of ocean ten thousand feet deep and
240 miles or more in vv^idth, the Alozambique Channel, lies between them.
Yet the island contains not alone fossil remains of the African hippopotamus,
but it has become the home of tribes of African origin — together with some
of Malay extraction. Just how this came about, scientists are not sure. Some
volcanic convulsion must have occurred which tore this huge piece from the
southeastern coast of the continental land mass. All tribes are now united
under the flag of France.

MADAGASCAR is an oval island,
the largest in the Indian Ocean,
with a coastline of three thousand
miles little indented, though there are
harbors at Tamatave, Majunga, Suarez,
Diego and Tulear. Some of these ports,
Tamatave especially, have been known to
Europeans for several hundred years, but
the interior, which rises in a hump of
mountainous country, is still a mystery.
Around the island, with hardly a break,
lies an almost impenetrable jungle forest
from ten to forty miles deep. The coasts
are marshy, and fully six-sevenths of
Madagascar has tropic heat with a rainy
season from November to April save on
the east coast where, thanks to the vapor-
laden southeast trade winds, it rains
throughout the year. There are terrific
thunderstorms, and residents of the coast
often see water-spouts and hurricanes.
In the high interior there is, however, a
cool season when the nights actually ap-
proach the freezing point. The moun-
tains include hundreds of extinct volcanic
cones and there are occasional slight earth-
quake shocks.

It is possible that this great land mass,
which lies ofif the southeasterly portion of
the African continent — in places but 240
miles removed from the mainland — may
at one time have connected Africa and
Asia. At any rate, it appears to have
been torn from East Africa by some
geological upheaval in remote times.

The language of the island is said to
be derived from the ancient Malay, and
the Hovas, the leading people, trace their
origin from the INlalays. There are also
Sanskrit words in the language which

were brought in by Buddhist missionaries
from India. There are Arabic phrases,
for Arab merchants traded with Mada-
gascar at least a thousand years ago. Both
these Arabs and the Indian traders formed
settlements on the coasts. Einally, on the
west side of the island there are tribes
showing Negro blood who are evidently
descended from African settlers; and in
the western forests there are the remains
of a people called the A'azimba, supposed
to have been the original natives of the
island who were drive-n inland by the
Malay conquerors. Added to all these
there are traces of Melanesians (people
from the South Pacific) but how they
came is not known.

There are supposed to be between three
and four million people in Madagascar.
The Hovas of the central province of
Imerina are the most important. The
word "hovs" really means the middle
class of the tribe, as distinguished from
the nobles and the slaves, and the correct
name of these people is Merina or people
of Imerina. They do not resemble Negroes
in any way : except for their dark skins
they might be Europeans, though their
eyes are dark brown, their hair jet black
and straight. Like other tribes of the
central districts, they have been Chris-
tianized by various missionary societies.

The Betsileos, who live south of the
Hovas, are larger and darker colored and
their hair is curly. In the southeast are
found the Baras, who are much more
])rimitive. These people wear their hair
in knobs done up with wax or fat and
whitening. The middle knob is the size
of a croquet ball, the others smaller. Each

211

212

213

214

215

Seeley Service

TANALA CHILDREN CHANTING BEFORE A HOUSE OF WOOD AND THATCH

Five hundred years ago Arab traders settled in Madagascar, and one can still find traces of
their influence among the Tanalas, a short people with light chestnut skins, who live among
the forests of Madagascar's southeast coast. These merry children wear as a skirt a
"kitamby"; it is made of rush matting. Over this a "lamba" is draped about them.

knob is quite hard and on some heads you
may count as many as one hundred of
them. The Baras wear great wooden ear-
rings and around their necks necklaces
hung with charms. They love brass nails,
and have dozens of them fixed into the
butts of their guns, cartridge boxes and
powder flasks. The head of each nail is
the size of a shilling.

Along the western side of the island
there are no fewer than twenty-five tribes,
including the Betsimisarakas, the Tana-
las, and the Sakalavas, who, before the
Hovas rose to power, were the rulers of
the whole island.

The natives make rather superior
houses, with walls of red clay or planks
and high-pitched, thatched roofs with pro-

jecting eaves which are ornamented with
quaint wooden figures reminiscent of
those used elsewhere on totem poles. The
women are clever at plaiting straw and
make sleeping mats, as well as wide hats
of palm-leaf, and clothing of grass, cot-
ton or tree bark the fibres of which
they separate by beating it with wooden
mallets. Unfortunately some of the
younger set conceive it to be the height
of fashion to stain every alternate tooth
black. The Malagasy folk eat quantities
of rice, which they grow on irrigated land
and cultivate with a narrow-bladed spade.
The Sakalavas, however, live largely on
cassava and sweet potatoes.

In the old days the natives used the
blow-pipe — one more way in which they

216

Rayaka

MALAGASY FISHER LADS WITH CURIOUS BASKET-LIKE HAND-NETS

With the baskets that will hold their catch upon their heads, these young men are ready to
go fishing. The most notable fishermen of Madagascar are the Vezo, a tribe of the Sakalava
race, who are as much at home in the water as on land, and the Antaizakas, whose name
explains itself, since it is a Malagasy word meaning "hand-fishers."

217

THE ONLY KIND OF CARRIAGE KNOWN TO MANY MALAGASY FOLK

The scarcity of good roads in Madagascar means, of course, that there are few carts and
fewer motor cars. Those who do not wish to walk must, therefore, take a "filanjana," which
is something like the Eastern palanquin, or the European sedan-chair. On level ground four
porters are needed, on rough ground and for crossing streams at least eight.

resembled the tribes of the Malay Archi-
pelago. To-day, though, most of the men
have guns, usually modern rifles, besides
being sufficiently good metal-workers to
forge the iron found cn the island into
spears and arrowheads, farm implements
and knives.

The people keep sheej) and cattle. The
cattle are like the Indian zebus with a big
hump behind the neck. No one knows
where they came from, for when the
Portuguese first landed on the island,
cattle were, even then, the principal riches
of the inhabitants. Most of the sheep are
of the fat-tailed breed — creatures with
black heads and very little wool, whose
tails make choice eating, from the native
point of view.

Malagasies make dug-outs from single
tree trunks for use on the rivers, while the
coast-dwellers build large boats made of
planks literally sewed together with palm
fibre. Some of these are fitted with out-
riggers like those of the craft used by the
South Sea Islanders. The coast tribes are
good at catching fish with nets and traps.

Even though ^Madagascar may havj
been at one time joined to Africa, it was
se])arated so long ago that the wild life is
now (luite difi^erent from that of the con-
tinent. Most of the wild creatures of
Madagascar are small and not particularly
dangerous. The worst is the foussa, a
brown civet-like beast about twice the size
of a cat, with a small head, short legs with
strong claws and a long tail. It is noc-
turnal and sometimes carries oflf lambs
and kids, and when wounded defends it-
self with such ferocity that the natives
believe it will attack a man.

Lemurs, monkey-like creatures of
which there are many different sorts, are
plentiful, and they are found in few other
countries. The most ]nizzling animal is
the aye-aye, a nocturnal lemur, about as
large as a cat, with big bare ears, eyes
which can see in the dark, rat-like teeth
with which it cuts into tree trunks in
search of the insects on which it feeds,
and the most amazing, spidery-looking
hands. The third finger of the right hand
is as thin as wire, for it is used in picking

218

}rysTnRious Madagascar

out the grubs from the wood. It sleeps
all day and feeds by night. Another queer
animal is the tenrec, a spiny creature
which lives chiefly on earthworms. It
sleeps through the hot weather and wakes
when it becomes cool.

Remains dug up in swampy places
prove that there existed in Madagascar a
huge, wingless bird which has been named
<(5^pyornis. It would have made the big-
gest ostrich look small, for it was fourteen
feet high, and its eggs, of which many
have been found, are three times the size
of ostrich eggs. It is believed to have
been living up to a few centuries ago.

No fewer than two hundred and thirty-
nine species of birds have been found.
There are plovers, rails, herons and other
familiar water-birds ; also parrots, pig-
eons, crows, rollers, birds of prey and
delightful little honey-eaters — creatures
that look like humming-birds. The rivers
hold two sorts of crocodile, of which one
is peculiar to the island. Both grow to a
great size and are dangerous to man and
beast. A twenty-foot crocodile will pull

an ox into the water and drown and eat
it. There are also poisonous snakes and
swarms of stinging insects.

Madagascar, discovered in 1500 by the
Portuguese, was for centuries an inde-
pendent kingdom. The French estab-
lished trading posts and began coloniz-
ing about 1700, and by the Anglo-French
agreement of 1890 established a protec-
torate over the island, which six years
later became a French colony. It was
thought necessary to depose Queen Rana-
valona III. who had succeeded to the
throne in 1883. and eventually she was
deported to Algiers. The French have,
however, brought about such material
improvements as the construction of rail-
roads, the irrigating of dry lands and
the conserving of valuable forests, to-
gether with the extermination of many
wild beasts. Now there are at least
eighteen thousand miles of roads, a rail-
road (soon to be electrified) between the
capital city, Antananarivo, and the chief
l)ort, Tamatave, and one southward from
the capital to the thermal springs at Ant-

THE CHILDREN ALL LEND A HAND IN PREPARING DINNER

Although rice is the main food of the tribes of central and eastern Madagascar, those of the
west rely for their vegetables more upon sweet potatoes, maize, beans, a wild plant called
tavolo and cassava or manioc, from the roots of which tapioca is obtained. Their food
would be very unappetizing to white folk, for their cooking-pots are always dirty.

219

15 ^ <^ dj

p3 <U OJXJ

<U C3 (i;

*oii o i

f1 2 c« I

220

ROYAL PALACE OF THE LAST NATIVE QUEEN OF MADAGASCAR

Ranavalona III, who died in 191 7, governed the island with the help of her husband, the
Prime Minister, from 1883 until 1896. She was deposed by the French and deported to
Algiers in 1899. Her palace, crowning a steep street in Antananarivo, is an important-look-
ing stone structure of three stories, with a high pitched roof and a turret at each comer.

221

AN IMPORTANT ITEM IN THE DAY'S WORK OF A MALAGASY WOMAN

Mat-making is considered by most of the tribes of the island an important feminine ac-
complishment. Not only are the mats used to cover the walls and floors of their houses,
but many are exported. Raffia and grasses are used, also a strong fibre found in the outer
peel of a coarse sedge. The best mats are those made by the Sihanaka women.

MAKER OF HATS OF GENEROUS SIZE IN IMERINA PROVINCE

For a long time the people of Madagascar have woven straw, raffia and other plant fibres
into hats, baskets and mats. The primitive appliances which this Hova hatter is using are
the same as those which have been used for many generations. But since 1904 quicker
methods of manufacture have been introduced by the French.

222

MYSTERIOUS MADAGASCAR

sirabe, besides which a new hue, also to
be electrified, is proposed from the east
coast. The motor bus service runs on a
regular schedule along the main roads to
the larger towns ; and through the chain
of lagoons on the east side a canal has
been started which is adequate for small
steamers. There is wireless communi-
cation with France, and French money is
used. A Bank of Madagascar was estab-
lished in 1925. The capital city is laid
out with wide streets and other evidences
of French influence.

From the steamy coastal plains rubber
and vanilla are produced, and there were,
by the latest statistics, some 1,392,000
acres sown to rice, the staple native food
crop. While portions of the coast are
desert-like, the great riches of the island
are the coastal forests, which are full of
such valuable timber as ebony, as well as
gums and resins. But it will be many
years before the forests can be exten-
sively opened up, for the climate is deadly
to white men. Cattle have been reared
since the early days.

MADAGASCAR: FACTS AND FIGURES

THE COiWTRY

A large island in the Indian Ocean off the
southeast coast of Africa, from which it is
separated by the Mozambique Channel ; the
nearest distance between island and continent
is 240 miles. Estimated area. 241.094 square
miles; population in 1921, 3,382,161.

GOVERNMENT

French colony since 1896; no representa-
tion in French Parliament. Governor-General
assisted by nominated Council of Administra-
tion, six members of which meet once a year
with Economic and Financial Delegation (24
French citizens and 24 natives — all elected) to
discuss budget proposals. Each province has
many native officials.

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES

Cattle-breeding and agriculture the chief
occupations. Forests contain valuable woods
and gums ; resins, dyewoods and textile plants
abound. Principal crops include rice, manioc,
beans, vanilla, coffee, cacao, cloves, tobacco,
rubber trees and mulberry trees. Livestock in
1925, 7,708,036 head. Graphite mining impor-
tant; gold, precious stones, phosphates, mica
and corundum also foimd. Chief exports :
graphite, manioc, tanning bark, rice, hides,
raffia fibre and beeswax. Chief imports : cotton
and woolen goods, alcoholic beverages, ma-
chinery, metals, cement, kerosene and flour.
Local manufacturing industries include rice-
milling, sugar-grinding, meat-packing, weaving
and the making of straw hats.

COMMUNICATIONS

Regular coastwise steamer service between
principal ports. Railway mileage in 1026. 430:
motor car service with routes covering 6t2
miles. Length of telegraph line in 102.!;. 4.787
miles ; telephone line, 2,235 miles ; 7 govern-
ment wireless telegraph stations.

RELIGION AND EDUCATION

Alany of the natives have been Christianized
in central districts ; about 600,000 Protestants
and Roman Catholics in 1895. Protestant and

Catholic missions active. Education theoreti-
cally compulsory from 8 to 14 years. In 1925
there were 1,508 schools with 140,583 pupils.
At Antananarivo there is a school of native
medicine, a commercial school, a normal
school and a school of agriculture.

CHIEF TOWNS

Population in 1926: Antananarivo (capital),
70,847; Antsirabe, 19,130; Majunga, 16,570;
Tamatave, 15,022; Nosy-Be, 14,022; Manan-
jary, 12,013; and Fianarantsoa, 11,156.

ADJACENT ISLANDS

The islands of Nossi-Be (area, 130 square
miles) off the v/est coast of Madagascar, and
St. Marie (area, 64 square miles) off the east
coast are under the authority of the Governor-
General of Madagascar. The archipelago of
the Comoro Islands (including Mayotte, An-
jouan, Grand Comore and Moheli), situated
in the Mozambique Channel mid-way between
Africa and Madagascar, is a French colony
and is attached as a province to the general
government of Madagascar. Its area is about
790 square miles, and the population was 119,-
305 in 1925. It exports hides, sugar, copra and
vanilla ; imports cotton fabrics, metals and rice.

Reunion (formerly Bourbon), about 420
miles east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean,
is a French colony. It is administered by a
Governor assisted by a Privy Council, and an
elective Council-General ; represented in the
French Parliament by a Senator and two
Deputies. Area : 970 square miles ; population
(1926), 186.637. Chief products: sugar, rum,
coffee, manioc, tapioca and vanilla. Chief im-
ports : rice, grain and cotton goods ; chief ex-
ports : sugar and rum. Railway mileage, 80;
postal, telephone and telegraph systems. Three
elementary schools with 14.624 pupils. Popu-
lation of chief towns in 1926: St. Denis, 23.-
390; St. Paul. 21,643; St. Pierre. 20,47Q; St-
Louis, 15.867. St. Paul, Amsterdam and Ker-
guelen. small islands in the Indian Ocean
southeast of Madagascar, also belong to
France, but are lacking in both population and
resources.

223

Through Tropic Fairylands

The Malays of the Dutch East Indies

Java. Sumatra. Celebes — to mention hut a few of the islands in that huge
group known as the Dutch East Indies — what a fascination even these names
hold! These islands possess all the glamor of the East — princes and palaces,
ancient temples, dark forests, impenetrable jungles — and though Java has
become one of the chief sugar, rice and rubber-producing centres of the world,
large portions of the other islands remain unexplored. Nearly two million tons
of sugar are annually produced and there are many sugar factories. In 1926
over 11,500 steamers and over 8,900 sailing vessels touched these shores. Most
of the people are of Malayan stock, living peacefully side by side with their
Dutch conquerors, but some of the tribes still remain unsubdued and com-
paratively unknown. This chapter deals with Java, P>ali, Sumatra, Madura
and Celebes. The chapter on The Men of the Blow-pipe describes the people
of Borneo and the wav they secure their game and ward off enemies.

THE isles of the Dutch East Indies,
between the Malay Peninsula and
Australia, are really the highest
l)eaks of a vast, partly submerged volcanic
mountain range. They consist of Java
and Madura, Sumatra, a part of Borneo
(which is dealt with in two other chap-
ters) and Celebes, together with innu-
merable smaller islands — Bali and Lom-
bok, the Moluccas, the Riau-Lingga and
the Timor archipelagoes, Bangha and
Billiton. Their area totals somewhat over
733,000 square miles and their combined
population a little more than 51,000.000.

Java, the most important of these pos-
sessions, is a land of tropical rains, moist
heat and equatorial lack of seasonal
change, which makes the islands a natu-
ralist's paradise. There are over five
hundred species of orchids alone, and
their perfume becomes poignant with the
falling of the dew, while the evening
sounds with the chirp, squeak, buzz and
bumble of myriads of insects, including
such strange ones as a musical worm and
a bird-killing beetle. In the sun-starved
jungle tangled with lantanas and silent
with deep moss — that endless jungle
which clothes the slopes of the extinct
volcanoes — tigers and other big game
prowl, elephants shrill their trumpet
blasts and reptiles add their stench to the
horrors of the unknown wilderness at
night. But in the gardens of the beauty-
loving natives and the luxurious Euro-
pean population, the tourist marvels at
the sweetness of frangipani, the grace of

])ei)i)er trees and the curiously twisted
limbs of the gigantic figs that are planted
for shade. Lotuses float upon the streams
and ponds, and one finds vermilion fungi,
tree-ferns, huge rasamalas (liquidambar
trees), while the north coast of Java is
fringed with mangroves.

Throughout Java, trees and shrubs
grow to immense size, and the flowers
and birds are of dazzling colors. More
than four hundred bright-hued birds, in-
cluding the peacock, are to be found in
the islands. Indeed, some of the strange
reptiles, insects, birds and flowers have
not yet been given names. Botanists from
all over the world come to Chibodas.

Many fruits grow plentifully. There
are, for instance, over seven hundred va-
rieties of bananas, ranging from little ones
the size of a man's finger to those as long
as his arm. The Javanese feed the big
ones to their horses to make the animals
have glossy coats. Mangoes, coconuts,
pineapples and pears thrive equally.

The majority of the islands belong to
the Netherlands. Of these, Java, which
lies in the track of most of the winds of
the Pacific and the Indian oceans, con-
tains nearly four-fifths of the entire popu-
lation of the Dutch East Indies. Batavia
is the capital city.

Though Java does not look large on the
map, it is actually nearly four times the
size of the Netherlands. The population
consists mainly of Javanese, though there
are many Europeans, chiefly Dutch, and
a half-million Chinese, besides Arabs.

225

Kurkdjian

ARTISTIC WORKER IN BRASS IN THE TOWN OF SURABAYA

The Javanese are skillful workers in metal and produce very beautiful objects with their
simple tools. This man, who dwells in the chief town of east Java, is chiseling an intricate
pattern on a brass bowl, which he steadies with his bare foot. On a succeeding page we
can see what marvels his kinsmen can fashion in gold.

Until the Arab invasion of the fifteenth
century, the Hindus dominated the his-
tory of the island. The Portuguese came
in 1520 and the Dutch toward the end of
the sixteenth century, both in quest of the
spice trade. The first Dutch settlement
was that of a commercial company which
for two centuries mishandled native af-
fairs. They made the Malays virtual
slaves, until famine and pestilence re-
sulted. But in 1798 the Dutch govern-
ment took possession, and to-day Java is
excellently governed.

Unexplored regions have been opened
up and a plantation system installed which
employs native labor in wholesale quan-
tities. The natives, who live in farm-
villages, go to work in gangs.

In addition to the sugar, coffee, rice
and other native plants of commercial
value, tea, rubber and other new crops
have l)een introduced, and well-drained,
improved roads and free harbors have
been built to facilitate trade and com-
merce. The government has taken over
the handling of opium, which was for-
merly handled by the Chinese and is still
to some extent smuggled in. It has also
taken over the pawn-shops by way of res-
cuing the docile natives from the Chinese
usurers. The Javanese render all officials,
whether Dutch or native, the courtesy of
the pose known as the "dodok,'' by which
they sit on their heels with hands folded
before them. The chief difficulty with
them arose in 1825 when a native prince,

226

THROUGH TROPIC FAIRYLANDS

Dipa Xegara, so resisted Dutch rule that
it took five years to subdue him and his
followers.

The Dutch Governor-General, dwelling
in luxury at Batavia and the country capi-
tal, Buitenzorg, holds sovereignty over
what is probably the most densely ])opu-
lated land mass — India not excepted — in
the world to-day. With his council he
has enormous power, though he exerts it
in i)art through native nobles, who deal
directly with the people. Latterly, how-
ever, a People's Council has been estab-
lished as a first step toward self-govern-
ment. The Dutch officials like Java, with
its gorgeous scenery, and even when they
retire from public life make the East In-
dies their home, and so take a personal
interest in the administration of the
islands which compose this group.

The larger plantations are everywhere
cultivated and harvested under Dutch su-
pervision. The well drained mountain-
sides are covered with tea bushes laid out
symmetrically by civil engineers, who
have planned for them a model irrigation
system. One of the largest tea plants in
the world may be visited in the saddle
between the two extinct volcanoes, Mount
Salak and Mount Gede. A variety of
plants is grown but the differing kinds of
tea are due less to that fact than to the
time and mode of the picking of the
leaves. The tea factories connected with
these plantations are clean buildings with
corrugated iron roofs and walls of airy
woven bamboo, in which modern ma-
chinery is employed.

A network of splendid railways, which
has been made by European engineers,

BEAUTIFUL HANDICRAFT WE HAVE LEARNED FROM JAVANESE

In artistic production the women of Java are the equals of the men. They weave the
cloth to make their "sarongs," and then dye it in a manner all their own by a slow hand
process requiring infinite patience. The results are so beautiful that in recent years this
method of dyeing, called "batik" work, has become widely popular.

227

228

230

OLD AND YOUNG SPEND LONG DAYS IN THE PADDY FIELDS

Rice is grown in Java, where it is summer all the year around, at any time of the year. One
field is being harvested while the next is being sown; in another the paddy stands half grown,
and in yet a fourth oxen wade knee-deep in watery mud, drawing wooden plows. Thus a
family in possession of wide paddy fields must needs be hardworking.

links up the plantations and towns. Wide
roads, such as are seldom found in the
East, make motoring delightful.

The natives, although small, are grace-
ful, strong and v^ell built. They are a
branch of the Malay race and are in-
telligent and extremely polite. As the
cultivated part of Java, which occupies
more than one-third of the whole island,
is covered with vast plantations of rice,
coffee, sugar-cane, corn, cassava, sweet
potatoes, ground-nuts, soya beans, to-
bacco and lesser crops such as the Peru-
vian bark from which quinine is produced,
the natives are nearly all agriculturists.
They live in villages, or kampongs, and
each vilh2:c may contain from thirty to

five hundred inhabitants, who live hap-
pily and peacefully tilling the land.
They are generally paid a small but suffi-
cient wage by the Dutch. The greater
part of the soil is claimed as government
property, and where there are private es-
tates, these are owned chiefly by Euro-
peans or Chinese. In addition, some
lands are hired from native princes or
from self-governing communities.

The villages are often surrounded by
groves of palms, which sometimes quite
hide the low huts. The houses are built
of teak or bamboo, with thatched roofs,
so that the native has nothing to fear from
earthquakes, which in these volcanic re-
gions are frequent. If his house gets

231

Smithsonian Institution

WINDOWLESS DWELLING OF THE HEADMAN OF A PAGET VILLAGE

South Paget, or Nassau, Island is the most southerly of an archipelago that lies off the
southwest coast of Sumatra. The people who dwell here are very primitive and are be-
lieved to be not Malays, but descendants of aboriginal Polynesians. The jungle lies at
the very doors of this pile-supported dwelling. A causeway leads to the door.

shaken down he soon Iniilds a new one.
Often each hut has a flower garden in
front of it, which adds considerably to its
picturesque appearance. Sometimes there
are Chinese coolies in the villages, too,
but they live by themselves. The beat of
a drum made of a hollow log marks the
passing hours, or warns the folk in case
of an alarm.

The house of the better class native is
made up of three separate structures
which are often joined by corridors.
There is the ''oman," which contains the
quarters of the family ; then comes the
"pandopo," where guests are received ;
and lastly the ''pringitan," in which are
the guests' sleeping quarters. These
houses have no windows and no chim-
neys, but this does not really incon-
venience the owners, as the Javanese pass
a great deal of their time out of doors.

The poorer people live in huts made of
l^amboo, wood and rushes bound together
with rattans. In western Java the floor is
built some distance above the ground, so
that cattle can be stabled underneath.

One of the best characteristics of the
Javanese is his extreme affection for his

family, which is generally a large one.
The children have a happy time, as their
fathers and mothers make much of them
and seldom punish them. Little boys,
with only a necklace for clothing, drive
the tame buffaloes to their daily mud bath,
or hunt for crickets, which they train to
fight in imitation of their father's highly
])rized fighting cocks.

The Javanese marry at an early age.
l)ut only members of the rich or the uj^j^er
classes have more than one wife. A wed-
ding is an excuse for holding a feast and
nearly everyone in the village gives some
small gift of food. The dancing, feast-
ing and merrymaking sometimes continue
for days.

The chief food of the Javanese is rice,
the cultivation of which is a laborious un-
dertaking, though the climatic conditions
are favorable. The people often work all
day knee-deep in mud, which gives off evil
gases and is the home of fierce insects.
When they gather the harvest they are
forced to work for days in a stooping
position, cutting off the ears by hand one
by one. for such an implement as a scythe
is unknown.

232

HOMES OF A FIERCE MOHAMMEDAN PEOPLE OF NORTH SUMATRA

The Achinese, who built these tall houses of two stories, are yet another tribe dwelling in
the huge island of Sumatra. They are Malays with a considerable admixture of Arab blood.
Now Arabs are, above all, fighting men and it is not surprising to learn that the Achinese
give far more trouble to their Dutch suzerians than do the Javanese.

MARVELOUS CRAFTSMANSHIP OF A SUMATRAN CANNIBAL TRIBE

The Bataks, or Battas, of north-central Sumatra are neither Malays nor Polynesians; they
are Indonesians. Their life is a curious mixture of savagery and culture, for though they
can fashion a dwelling as wonderful as this, though they are metal-workers and agriculturists
and can even read and write, incredibly, many are still cannibals.

233

A SULTAN OF GOWA, at the southern tip of the four-fingured island of Celebes, wears
a semi-European dress and has a retinue of but three body-guards. Of these, one shelters him
beneath a pyong or state umbrella, the number of rings on which indicates the rank of the
official. The retainer in epaulettes could defend him with the sword if need be.

THE UNGAINLY GARABAO, or water buffalo, is the chief domestic animal of the Dutch
East Indies, as it is of the Philippines. This one, snatching a mouthful of grass from the
roadside as it goes, carries the small son of its master upon its back, while the master himself
carries the long, unwieldy plough — a curiously carved and painted affair.

235

THROUGH TROPIC FAIRYLANDS

The Javanese love hunting and fishing.
Sometimes a hunter may be so fortunate
as to kill a tiger, for which he will receive
a government bounty. He may sell the
skin, but first of all he will pull out the
teeth, claws and whiskers, which are con-
sidered to be powerful aids against evil
spirits.

Some tigers may not be killed, because
the people believe them to be friends who
watch over their interests and frighten
away other tigers. They think that the
spirit of an ancestor resides in such a
tiger. Wild pigs and deer are often to be
seen ; reptiles, including crocodiles, infest
the swamps ; and edible fish swarm in the
rivers and coastal waters. With these
sources of food at their disposal, the Java-
nese need not work hard to obtain a liv-
ing, although the Dutch are gradually
teaching them scientific methods.

A Race of Spendthrifts

However, they prefer their slow an-
cient implements, and the Dutch do not
mind their doing so, as it gives work to
everyone and keeps them happily em-
ployed. The Javanese never save money,
they squander it on festivals and feasts,
which they hold at every opportunity.

They are Mohammedans, but they still
observe some of the old Hindu rites. The
women and children are especially devout,
and frequently go to the temples to pray
and to take offerings to the priests.

Batavia is by far the most important
town in the East Indies. It is situated in
one of the biggest sugar, rice and rubber-
producing centres of the world. The city,
with its white stucco houses roofed with
red tile, is quite modern ; there are ex-
cellent railways, nearly three thousand
miles of them, running hence to all parts
of the island, and a telegraph system has
been in use since 1858. Native police
direct the passage of motor cars, and
there are excellent schools where the
courteous native children are educated by
European and native teachers.

A Harbor Scented with Spices

Before the glittering harbor of Batavia
(Tandjong Priok) is reached, we can

smell the almost overpowering scent of
spices that is wafted from the island. A
train takes us from the harbor to the best
part of the town, where there are good
hotels, telephones and other modern
comforts. Fine houses and offices, built
in the Dutch style, are to be seen. There
are well laid out squares and gardens,
and wide roads, where Europeans in white,
and Chinese, Malays and Javanese in their
colored costumes add to the scene.

Many of the Javanese women living in
the larger towns wear European dress, as
do some of the men. The usual garment
of the women, however, is the sarong —
a wide piece of cloth fastened under the
armpits and reaching nearly to the ground.
When in public they also wear a short
coat, with a scarf draped over the
shoulders or tied around the waist. The
women fasten their hair in a tight knot
with pins ; the men wear little turbans.
Rings and bracelets are worn by both
men and women, and the children fre-
quently have anklets.

The old Dutch buildings, some of which
were built in the seventeenth century, are
well worth seeing. The city church is
over two hundred years old, and has a
fine pulpit and carvings. The imposing
town hall dates from 17 10. The Java
Bank is housed in a fine modern build-
ing. A wide canal runs through the prin-
cipal street and in it the Javanese bathe
night and morning. The tourist is sur-
prised to find modern Batavia (the Dutch
Weltevreden) one vast park checked off
in mammoth public squares and gardens
perfumed with orchids. The Dutch resi-
dents dress for dinner and attend con-
certs and club affairs and have books and
paintings and band concerts.

Banquets of Batavia

In old Batavia one should see the side-
walk bazaars and if possible attend a na-
tive banquet, at which rice is eaten with
curry, chicken, green peppers, fried fish
and fried bananas and followed by won-
derful coffee. By the Tiger Canal is the
Chinese quarter, where live some thirty
thousand Chinese— shopkeepers, hawkers
and laborers— and here the buildings

Kill kdjian

CRAFTSMEN TURNING WOOD IN AN OPEN-AIR JAVANESE WORKSHOP

These busy workmen are making wooden knobs and handles like the one in the centre
foreground. The man at the wooden lathe holds in his right hand a bow the string of
which is twisted around a piece of wood. By drawing the bow backward and forward
he makes the wood revolve as he shapes one end with the tool in his left hand.

and bazaars are Chinese joss houses, or
temples, with their idols.

After Batavia, Semarang and Surabaya
are the chief towns. Surabaya is linked
up east and west by good railways, and is
the headquarters of the military authori-
ties. Here are the old, half-ruined for-
tifications which were built years ago by
the Dutch.

In the centre of Java are two strange
states which are called Jokja and Solo
— short for Djokjakarta and Surakarta.
These are governed by a sultan and king
respectively, and the old medieval forms
of courtesy and court etiquette are still
practiced as they were hundreds of years
ago. Time seems to have stood still here.
The court nobles still wear their gorgeous
uniforms and state trappings, and the
palaces and buildings look like those
described in fairy tales.

Although the king and sultan still reign,
they themselves have to obey the Dutch

officials and are rulers more in name than
in realty.

At Jokja there are over a thousand
temples, and strangely carved ruins add
to the general picturesqueness. Here the
chief industry is the weaving and dyeing
of the beautiful cloth that is famous in
Java. The cloth is woven without a loom
and the wonderful patterns are tediously
made by dyeing the cloth after the pat-
terns have been covered with a wax that
keeps out the dye. The work is known as
^^atik."

At Boro Budur, in the centre of the is-
land, are marvelous ruins dating back to
the ninth century — relics of an ancient
Hindu-Buddhist civilization that existed
before the Arabs swept through the land
in the fifteenth century. The ruins cover
a small hill and are pyramidal in shape,
mounting up the hillside in a series of
terraces. There are five terraces and on
them are the carvings that have made

237

LEWIS

THEIR TRAILING SARONGS, no less than their good features, show that these two young
people of Bali are of high caste and that they are the aristocrats of their island. They Hve
luxuriously in their richly decorated dwelling, waited upon by large retinues. The Balinese
are of the same race as the Javanese, but they are of hner physique and taller.

238

LEWIS

ON BALI, a mountainous and volcanic island of the Sunda group, in the tail of the Malay
Archipelago, rice is the leading crop. The grain is stored in thatched and painted wooden
paddy-holders which stand by the roadsides. The one above rests on a pedestal of basalt, a
volcanic rock of which the island is chiefly composed. The woman has a basket of rice.

239

A PIECE OF SUMATRAN WILDERNESS SOON TO BE TAMED

Sumatra, an island of over 163,000 square miles in area, is not so well developed as Java,
and its mountain slopes and coastal plains are still covered with impenetrable, primeval
forests. It has great possibilities, however, and in time will probably yield as much wealth
as Java. This tangle of tree and shrub, for instance, will soon be a tobacco estate.

240

JAVANESE INGENUITY INVENTED THIS BAMBOO FERRY BOAT

Java's many rivers are too shallow to be of much use for navigation, but some of them are
wide and there are few bridges. Instead, two ropes of twisted cane are slung across from
shore to shore, and by hauling upon these a couple of men can draw their bamboo raft across
the stream. It is a land where human labor is abundant.

WONDERFUL STONE CARVINGS OF AN OLD HINDU TEMPLE

Not far from Buleleng, the chief town of Bali Island, we find this elaborately carved Hindu
temple, which was built many years ago. At Boro Budur in Java, which was once a Hindu-
Buddhist island, an amazing temple, centuries old, has been discovered; it is considered an
even more stupendous piece of work than the Great Pyramid of Egypt.

241

LEWIS

IN THE PADDY FIELDS there is always work to be done — ploughing, sowing, planting out
and reaping. This Javanese woman has come to that last stage in the year's work, and her
labor is more exacting than the harvesting of more civilized people, for she has to cut every
stem separately with her knife. Now she is carrying the sheaves home for storage.

242

BY A TEMPLE, time-worn and overgrown with moss and lichen, two men of Bali talk to-
gether, but not as equal to equal. He of the trailing sarong is high caste, the other low. Bali
and the neighboring island of Lombok are both Hindu in religion, but have animal hfe
utterly different. That of the former is Asiatic, that of the latter Australasian.

243

THROUGH TROPIC FAIRYLANDS

Boro Budur so famous. It has been es-
timated that there are three miles of carv-
ings. The building of the temple must
have been an even more stupendous task
than the erection of the Great Pyramid
in Egypt.

To the east of Java is a chain of is-
lands, of which each one possesses strange
and wonderful scenery. The largest and
most important is the volcanic island of
Bali, which is peopled by natives similar
to those of Java, but bigger, stronger and
more primitive. Here the natives, who
are Hindus, not jMohammedans, are more
religious, especially the women and chil-
dren, who spend a great deal of their time
praying and making offerings of spice,
scent and flowers at the little temple
courts seen all over the island.

Brass Drums and Fighting-cocks

It is a wonderful sight to see the
women going to the temple with baskets
of flowers balanced on their heads.
Everything is peaceful, save when the
brass drums resound. The men, in elab-
orate attire with flowers in their hair,
bear their fighting-cocks against their
chests or in ornate gold cages.

The villages of Bali, unlike those of
Java, are enclosed by long, low mud
walls, inside which the children play hap-
pily all day long. In the south are beau-
tiful rice fields which rise up the hillsides
in terraces. These terraces are very beau-
tiful in Java, but in Bali they are even
more wonderful. Among the most in-
teresting sights to be seen in the island
are the graceful dances performed by the
young girls. The dancers are dressed
like little goddesses and go through many
elaborate poses, doubtless depicting the
story of some Hindu god.

Bali is separated by a narrow but deep
channel from the neighboring island of
Lombok, yet the animal and vegetable life
of the two islands is entirely different.
The wild life of BaH is like that of Asia,
but Lombok, with its marsupials and white
cockatoos, resembles Australia. It really
seems that the narrow channel between
these two islands definitely divides one
continent from the other.

A Vast Unexplored Region

Sumatra, astride the equator, is three
times as large as Java and thirteen times
the size of the Netherlands, but it is com-
posed largely of unexplored jungles. The
civilization of this inland is probably of
Hindu origin. There are Sanskrit words
in the various native languages. And as
in Java, the Mohammedans, then the
Dutch came, and Dutch sovereignty has
gradually been extended. The British
acquired a foothold in Sumatra in 1685,
but vacated in accordance with a treaty
signed in 1824.

A vast range of mountains called the
Barisans runs down its entire length like
a spine. Although there are many rivers,
they are too small or too rapid to be of
any use. Huge lakes and swamps, con-
taining crocodiles and crabs ; dangerous
and unexplored jungles inhabited by
tigers and savages, all combine to make
Sumatra a mysterious land.

The climate is similar to that of Java,
but hotter. The inhabitants, the Achinese
as they are called, are violent, fierce, cruel
and quick to revenge an insult ; and while
they work better than the Javanese, they
give the Dutch a great deal of trouble and
have never really been subdued. They
are Mohammedan, but much stricter ones
than the Javanese, owing to their Arab
blood. Some of them make the long
journey to Mecca and on their return
they are greatly honored by their relatives
and friends.

Like the Javanese, the Achinese have
no idea of the value of money and
squander their earnings on gambling,
cock fighting and other amusements.
They are also addicted to the smoking of
hemp, a deadly drug which sometimes
produces madness ; then the smoker
seizes a native sword and runs **amok,"
killing anyone in his path. When this
happens, the frightened people shut them-
selves up in their houses, while the braver
men hunt down the madman.

Medan and the Rubber Plantations

Padang, the capital, is the chief town.
Here we may see the results of European

LEWi:

A YOUNG BALINESE WOMAN is usually quite attractive, with her clear golden skin,
black hair and amiable face and her pleasant plumpness. When she is a member of a royal
family these attractions are enhanced by jeweled combs and earrings and attire of rainbow
silk brocade. Like the Chinese aristocrat, she does not cut the nails of her left hand.

246

LEWIS

A CONSIDERABLE PERSONAGE, this Balinese chieftain displays both his wealth and his
rank upon his person. Over his right shoulder we can see the jeweled hilt of his kris, a
Malayan dagger that he wears in the back of his sash. The cultivated Balinese, like the
Javanese, are an innately aesthetic people and delight in the vivid hues of the tropics.

247

248

SO) I

0^3

<u S5 c

ct3 O XI

G C o

00 5 ^

DC
en

w
u

o
a;

>-i z5 o

«+H >-H >-< ^

^ a D ^

J2 -w O

<U<+H i

O D ^ c3

^ T-J ►

c« O-S <^

aj iH cn g

0) U d)

o o §2

c/2 fcX) "

^ ^ OJ ^

^ GX 3
- O 03 O

H ^ 03 >,

-2 ^ 3 §

O Q.

C a> c
h-t ttt— ( oj

249

LEWIS

THE JAVANESE, with their expressive features, their punctilious courtesy and high in-
telligence, are termed "the flowers of the Malay race." For when, in the late fifteenth
century, Mohammedanism became the religion of all the East India Islands except Bali and
Lombok, it superseded a Hindu-Buddhist culture of unknown antiquity. That the older
civilization was one more highly developed than that which followed is pretty well proven
by the character of the ruins of temples, tombs and cities that lie buried in the jungle.

250

LEWIS

THIS BALI DANCER is but one of many young girls still slim and supple who perform
the theatrical dances of the East Indies. The native chieftains have theatrical troupes, some
of whom appear in just such brocaded silks, with collar, belt and armlets of beaten gold set
with jewels. Around her neck this little girl, who may be a member of the royal family,
wears a chain hung with English sovereigns, a favorite form of adornment in the South Sea
Islands. Her finger rings are incredibly heavy, her earrings of a size to be uncomfortable.

251

THROUGH TROPIC FAIRYLANDS

STRANGE PRODUCT

BATAVIAN FACTORY

This little Madurese coolie is carrying a basket of kapok
fibre from the drying ground to the packing shed. The
soft white fluff is obtained from the seeds of the tall kapok
tree, and is used to stuff pillows and cushions.

occupation, though most of the island is
still undeveloped. Medan is a new town,
with cool, white buildings, and is sur-
rounded by plantations where the na-
tives and Chinese coolies work under the
direction of Dutch overseers.

The rubber plantations are interesting.
The rubber is procured from a beautiful
tree, with strong, shiny leaves, and the
trees stand in rows in gloomy forests
where the sun can hardly penetrate.
When the latex, or sap, is rising the
trunks are notched, and cups are hung

around the trunks in order to
catch the thick, milky juice
that oozes out. This is poured
into cans and taken away to
be prepared.

South of x\chin, the north-
ern part of Sumatra, live other
Malay tribes, such as the
Bataks, Korinchis and Jam-
bis. The Bataks are a race
apart, despised by the Mo-
hammedans, especially the
Javanese, for they worship the
souls of their ancestors ; their
priests and priestesses dance
with snakes and practice witch-
craft ; and the people are can-
nibals. Until recently, it is
said, they actually sold human
flesh in the market places. This
has gradually been stopped,
partly by the missionaries of
various nations. Some of these
unfortunate people are lepers
and are confined to their own
compounds and villages and
never allowed to pass beyond
a certain boundary. These un-
fortunate people live in a far
better way than do the healthy
Bataks, who are often very
dirty, for the lepers wash their
clothes frequently, and bum
all rubbish.

The houses of the Bataks
are built on poles, with high
roofs, and sometimes having
carved snakes over them to
guard the owners. Little
wooden staircases serve as
entrances. The buildings are quite big,
and often as many as eight families live
together. One fire, which is never al-
lowed to go out, is used for cooking by
all of them, but each family has its own
room.

The men and women wear cloth dyed
with the indigo plant, and their fingers
are always stained with this dye. Dogs
and pigs run about in this village and act
as scavengers. The pigs especially show
tliat the i)eople are not Mohammedans, as
these animals are considered unclean by

252

THROUGH TROPIC FAIRYLANDS

the members of that reHgion. Here, as
in Java and other parts of Sumatra, the
people are fond of dancing and give nu-
merous displays. Nearly all the Bataks,
as well as most of the other peoples of
Sumatra, are farmers. The harrowing
and plowing are done by buffaloes, who
seem to understand the work. They pull
the harrow between the young rice plants
and never trample even one underfoot.

it looks somewhat like a starfish with an
arm torn off the side that corresponds to
the west coast of the island.

Here, perhaps, the scenery of the East
Indies is to be seen at its best. Gorges
and precipices abound in the south, and,
when the walls of these project, a won-
derful mass of vegetation, ^tarred with
gorgeous flowers, hangs down like a nat-
ural curtain. Most of the country is cov-

■ .J

Ernest Peterffy

COOLIES AT WORK ON THE COALING STATION IN MACASSAR HARBOR

The Dutch island of Celebes, compared to a star-fish because of its four protruding limbs,
is separated from Borneo on the west by Macassar Strait. Macassar on the southwest
coast is the chief town and ranks next to Batavia as a Dutch port; it has a lively trade,
and its harbor possesses a government coaling station and two well ordered landing quays.

Little bamboo houses on poles may be
seen under a palm or a banana grove near
the fields. From these shelters lines, to
which black tassels or bits of tin are at-
tached, are stretched over the fields. The
children manipulate the lines from the
little lookout huts and so keep the beauti-
ful but destructive paddy-bird away from
their father's rice fields.

One of the four large Sunda Islands
is Celebes, which is separated from the
island of Borneo by the famous Strait
of Macassar. Its outline is irregular and

ered with almost impenetrable forests,
which we can cross only by the hardly
noticeable paths leading to tiny villages.

A curious feature about Celebes is that
it possesses animals and birds which are
not found on any of the other islands.
Only one hundred and sixty kinds of birds
are found, but ninety of these do not exist
anywhere else in the East Indies. The
animals also are peculiar to the island,
and even several species of its butterflies
are unique.

Around the coast the natives dive for

253

LEWIS

THE VILLAGERS of Bali display the same love of gorgeous color as the high-caste Balinese
of that brilliant, jungle-forested land. Caste is a very real thing in Bali, which has retained
the older religion of the Hindus; though in Java, from which the island is separated by only
a narrow strait, the people are Mohammedans and caste as such is disregarded.

254

LEWIS

THIS JAVANESE COUPLE from the east end of the island is typical of the East Indian
branch of the Malay race, an amiable, agricultural people, unlike the indolent natives of
Malay in their capacity for hard work. They are extremely polite. The woman wears the
native "sarong" and a sash; the man has a jacket as well and a strip of cloth worn turbanwise.

255

THROUGH TROPIC FAIRYLANDS

pearls and catch turtles for a living, but
the products which come from the forests
are the most important. The three prin-
cipal Malayan tribes are the Macassars,
the Mandars and the Bugis. The Macas-
sars are fine men, well built and strong,
and they love running, wrestling and
hunting.

To the east of Celebes is that archi-
pelago known as the Moluccas, which con-
tains several large islands. There are
Malay settlements around the coast of one
of them. Burn, but the interior, which is
largely dense forest, is peopled by strange
tribes. These, though they are possibly
of Papuan origin, are a yellowish-brown
in color, of slight build and usually below
medium height. They live in scattered
communities and are almost untouched
by civilization. Ceram, to the east of
Buru, is a larger and more densely popu-

lated island, with Malay tribes on the
coast and savage head-hunters farther
inland.

We leave the Dutch East Indies with
reluctance. Europeans who have dwelt
there never forget the dignified inhabi-
tants, with their fine faces which still bear
the signs of the ancient culture that was
theirs hundreds of years before the Arab
or European conquests. Neither can they
ever forget the beauty of the islands,
which are lovely beyond words — an
earthly paradise to the visiting tourist.

The Dutch East Indies have an ex-
tensive educational system which begins
with the government primary schools,
where instruction is given in the Dutch
language to Europeans. Chinese and na-
tives. There are also Dutch high schools,
besides public schools in which the native
tongue is used.

DUTCH EAST INDIES:

THE COUNTRY

A group of islands in the Malay Archi-
pelago lying along the equator between the
North Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.
The total area is approximately 733,649 square
miles and the population 51,717,688 (1926 esti-
mate). (This includes Dutch Borneo; for
Borneo Facts and Figures, see page 272.)

Area and population (estimates for 1926)
of principal groups of islands are as follows :
Java and Madura, 50,749 square miles, 36.-
901,643; Sumatra, 163,138 square miles, 5,994,-
859; Riau-Lingga Archipelago, 12,506 square
miles, 224,145; Bangha, 4,549 square miles,
161,313; Billiton, 1,872 square miles, 65,584;
Celebes and Menado, 72,679 square miles,
3,438,664; Bali and Lombok, 4,072 square miles,
1,544,952; Molucca Islands, 30,168 square
miles, 630,190; Dutch New Guinea, 160,692
square miles, 195,460 (1920) ; Timor Archi-
pelago, 24,819 square miles, 1,143,626.

GOVERNMENT

The superior administration and executive
authority of the Dutch East Indies rests with
a Governor-General and is exercised through
a hierarchy of native officials ; advisory council
of 5 members ; legislative power shared by
Governor-General and Volksraad, the mem-
bers of which are appointed by the government
or elected by local councils.

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES

Rich natural resources, largely undeveloped
except in Java. Agriculture constitutes the
chief occupation of the bulk of the population,
partly controlled by foreign agricultural com-

FACTS AND FIGURES

panics. Chief products : sugar, rubber, coffee,
tea, rice, corn, cassava, tobacco, pepper, copra,
kapok and fruits of all kinds. Third in sup-
plying coffee for world trade ; Java and Ma-
dura third in world production of sugar. Na-
tive industries include preparation of agricul-
tural and forest products for export, weaving,
dyeing and metal work. Tin is mined in
Bangha, Billiton and Riau ; coal in Java and
Sumatra : petroleum found in Java and
Sumatra.

COMM UNICA TIONS

Communication is chiefly by water. Rail-
way mileage in 1927, 4,507. Government-
owned telegraph in 1926, 20,721 miles ; tele-
phone. 171,824 miles; 26 radio stations were in
operation in 1927. Regular air mail service.

RELIGION AND EDUCATION

Entire religious liberty ; 9 Protestant and
Catholic missions ; bulk of natives Moham-
medans. Government and private elementary
schools for Europeans, Chinese and natives;
instruction in Dutch and vernacular. In 1928
there were 17,506 elementary schools with
1,517,217 pupils. Professional, trade and
technical training schools; normal schools for
Europeans. Chinese and natives.

CHIEF TOWNS

Batavia (capital of Java), 305,901; Sura-
baya (Java), 249.674; Semarang (Java). 146-
509; Surakarta (Java), 156,162; Bandoeng
(Java), 137,050; Djokjakarta (Java), 109,932;
Macassar (Celebes), 53-500; Palembang (Su-
matra), 6o,7^2>\ Aledan (Sumatra). 45.248

Borneo the Isle of Summer

Its Forest Folk and Head'hunting Dayaks

To the extent that civilization demands a supply of rubber, every rubber-
producing country is of interest. Borneo is one such country. It is a land
of tropical jungle in which the mammoth orang-utan and the gibbon, the
python and the crocodile make travel precarious. Until comparatively recent
times, Borneo was regarded as the home of the "wild men" — the head-hunting
Dayaks, But the old days of piracy and head-hunting have practically passed,
and the rule of the British and the Dutch, and of the British raja of the inde-
pendent state of Sarawak, has brought peace and prosperity to this storehouse

of nature's treasures.

Borneo is one of the two or three
largest islands in the world. A part
of the Malay Archipelago, it lies
north of Java in the China Sea. As it
rests on a submarine plateau, its coastal
waters are not deep and there are few
neighboring small islands, though Ban-
guey and Labuan lie off the northwest
coast and the Karimatas off the south-
west.

The mainland rises in a hump of huge
mountains densely forested, with some
sixty kinds of timber which is extremely
valuable but for the most part almost
hopelessly inaccessible. Ferns, vines and
exotic wild flowers add to the impene-
trabihty of a jungle nourished by tropic
warmth and bounteous rainfall. In Sara-
wak, in northwest Borneo, which is
hemmed between the mountains and the
sea, there is all of two hundred inches of
rainfall per year, the heaviest of it during
the northwest monsoon which blows from
October to March, though there are
thunderstorms and sometimes torrential
downpours even during the southwest
monsoon which controls the climate the
rest of the year.

Vivid sunshine gives way to sudden
wind squalls followed immediately by vio-
lent cloudbursts, while the rivers come
cascading from the mountains till they
can widen between wooded banks heavy
with the pungency of rich black soil and
wet foliage, or they become swirling
rapids till at last they reach the fertile
clearings of the plantations and the man-
grove swamps of the coast. In other parts
of Borneo the rainfall, though perhaps

only half as abundant, still averages a
hundred inches a year. As the equator
passes through the island, there are no
seasons. On the coastal swamps and
plains it is always hot ; at Sarawak it
ranges from 70 to 90 degrees by day, but
is cooler at night.

Borneo is a land of mystery and ro-
mance. Even in these days, when the
darkest and most remote corners of the
earth have yielded up their secrets to ex-
plorers, there are vast tracts of forest
country in Borneo which are quite un-
known. British, Dutch and Malay settle-
ments are situated around the coast, but
the heart of the island is inhabited by sav-
ages who are primitive and wild. It is
suspected that some of them are cannibals,
and most certainly many of them are head-
hunters.

Borneo is a land of mystery because
there is so much still to be learned about
its people and its natural resources. We
know that in its forests there are valuable
gutta-percha and rubber trees, coconut
and sago palms, rattan canes and iron-
wood trees. It is rich, too, in orchids
and all kinds of tropical flowering plants.
In various districts there are coal, oil,
gold, diamonds and other less important
minerals.

Borneo is a land of romance because of
its history. Of the original peoples who
inhabited the island we know but little.
When, centuries ago, it was overrun by
Malays, these native tribes were driven
inland. They still live in the heart
of the forests — the Klemantans, Murtits,
Kayans, Kenyahs and Punans — savages

257

HOSE

THIS KLEMANTAN CHIEF wears a war-coat made of the skin of a panther that he has
slain. His wooden shield is stout enough to turn a blow from a sword, but would be of
little use against enemies armed with rifles. The weird decoration hints at the relationship
supposed to exist between the native tribes of the South Seas and the Indians of Puget Sound.

258

HOSE

AMONG THE KENYAHS, the warriors paint upon their shields conventional designs of
human faces, then ornament these grotesque escutcheons with tufts of hair from the heads
of their slaughtered enemies. Their chief weapons are the sword and spear. Under Western
influence native warfare has, however, been reduced chiefly to the avenging of injuries.

259

Hose

WELL-WORN TRACK THROUGH THE FOREST NEAR THE RIVER BARAM

The greater part of the population of Borneo is settled along the banks of the rivers, so
that the best "roads" are to be found near the waterways. The trees with the straight,
smooth trunks are tapans, which are the giants of the forest of Borneo. The forests contain
about sixty kinds of timber which could be used for commercial purposes.

260

BORNEO THE ISLE OF SUMMER

fighting. A sixth and very numerous
people of Borneo are the Ibans, or Sea
Dayaks, or Dyaks, on the lower reaches
of the main rivers of Sarawak, but
also to be found in British North Borneo
and the adjacent Dutch territory.

The control of Borneo is divided be-
tween the British and the Dutch, though
both Portuguese and Spaniards had at-
tempted to gain a foothold on the island
before them. The Dutch established
trading-posts as early as 1604, but gained
little authority for more than two hundred
years. The natives were difficult to con-
trol and pirates were numerous. No white
man dared venture far from the fortified
towns.

The first white man who gained any in-
fluence over the natives was an English-
man, James Brooke, who had served the
East India Company before he determined
to put down piracy and civilize the inhab-
itants of Borneo. His resolve was due to
a voyage to China during which his ves-
sel made its way among islands marvelous

This

TINY

lemuroid primate is
nocturnal, arboreal and in-
sectivorous in habit. It is
also called the mabmog.

whose principal weapon is
the blow-pipe, whose chief
occupations are hunting and

DREAD GIANT TH.\T WALKS THE FOREST WAYS

Orang-utans are native to Borneo. The name in Malay
means "man of the woods." A full grown male stands about
four feet, six inches high and its arms are enormous. It
keeps mostly to the trees and is fond of fruit.

261

HOSE

THESE YOUNG IBANS' of the Sea Dyak group of Bornean tribes wear a gala dress rich
with ivory, shell and silver and gay with gold-embroidered scarlet. For a hot climate the
boy's attire, which conceals none of his splendid muscular development, would seem the
more appropriate, though even his sword and turban are elaborate with trophies of the chase.

262

THIS DA YAK GIRL wears a corselet of rattan hoops covered with brass rings, above a
skirt fringed with coins, to match those around her chest. Her shell necklaces are heavy with
silver, as are her belt and bracelets, while the rings in her ears conceal Httle bells. Her comb
is decorated with silver fihgree and tinsel. No wonder she looks weighted down!

263

BORNEO THE ISLE OF SUMMER

for their scenery but inhabited by savage
tribes who were the scourge of the South
Seas. Eventually the young man equipped
a large yacht and trained a picked crew
of twenty for the adventure of civiHz-
ing the wild men of Borneo and others
equally barbarous. When he started, in
1838, he was but thirty-six years of age;
but he was made of heroic stufif.

When he landed at Sarawak in 1839 he
found several Dayak tribes, ferocious
head-hunters, in revolt against the ruling
Sultan. The Sultan's uncle. Rajah Muda
Hassim, accepted Brooke's proffered aid ;
and the Englishman, with his small crew
and some Javanese who had joined them,
fought a winning battle. In view of this
service the Rajah insisted upon abdicating
in Brooke's favor, though the Sultan did
not confirm the title till two years later.

Rajah Brooke and the Pirates

Brooke now determined to suppress
piracy for the sake of developing the com-
merce of the archipelago ; and to this end
he first attempted negotiations with the
chiefs of the most offensive tribes, but to
no avail. He then made successive expe-
ditions against the Dayaks, Malays and
Arabs who had been making the most
ferocious raids upon white traders, in the
course of which large numbers of the
pirates were slain. On his return to Lon-
don in 1847 he received high honors and
was made consul-general to Borneo. The
name of Sir James (Rajah) Brooke be-
came world famous. For over a gen-
eration he ruled wisely, suppressed most
of the head-hunting in British Borneo
and persuaded large numbers of Dayaks
to take up agriculture.

Now the Chinese who had been work-
ing in the alluvial gold deposits in Upper
Sarawak sacked Kuching in 1867, burned
Brooke's house, and would have taken his
life but that his nephew raised a force of
the Malays and Dayaks of the district and
suppressed the insurgency. This nephew
succeeded Sir James in 1868 and the ofiice
of rajah became hereditary in their fam-
ily, though it is governed like a crown
colony as an independent State under the
protection of Great Britain.

Plantations and Lumbering

Besides Sarawak, British Borneo
(which became a protectorate in 1888, and
which consists mainly of Mohammedan
Malays, with a sprinkling of white men
and Chinese) includes Brunei and North
Borneo. All have huge coffee, coconut
and tobacco plantations and important
lumber companies.

Brunei is a Mohammedan state the pres-
ent Sultan of which is a minor. The chief
town, Brunei, is so subject to the rise
and fall of the water level that the Brit-
ish Resident who conducts the admin-
istration had his house built upon piles
at the end of the river, while the jun-
gle-clad hills rise up about the town.
The old native quarter is, indeed, built
entirely over the river and some of the
dwellings actually float upon the water.
The market venders, usually women in
wide straw hats, array their stalls with
many brass and silver articles to tempt the
purse of the traveler, and with cotton
cloth and foodstuffs, each in a little boat
anchored to the pile dwellings, and to these
the purchasers make their way in other
boats under a bombardment of native vo-
ciferation. The scene presents mingled
odors of fresh-caught fish, rotting piles,
and over-hot humanity, while toward eve-
ning a million frogs play bass in a sym-
phony of bird and insect sounds — and
mosquitoes and sometimes ants puncture
one with fiery thrusts and from the near-
est jungle one may sometimes hear the
cries of a band of monkeys.

As to British North Borneo, it has a
coastline of over nine hundred miles and
in Sandakan, on the east coast, the one
fine natural harbor of the island. At this
point Borneo lies so near the Philippines
that ships can make the crossing in less
than a day. The tourists will find good
hotel accommodations at Sandakan, with
such touches of Western civilization as an
automatic telephone service, a scentific so-
ciety and a racing association.

Sultan Wears Huge Diamonds

Dutch Borneo is on the whole very
much less developed than British Borneo,

COOLIES CARRYING SACKS OF PEPPERCORNS TO A BARGE

The soil of Borneo is sufficiently fertile for almost any tropical product. The pepper plant
was introduced into the island from India, and large quantities of pepper are produced in
Sarawak; but owing to a disease among the plants the supply is becoming smaller every
year. The red peppercorns we know are the dried fruit of the plant.

EFFICIENT MEANS OF TRANSPORT ON A LARGE PEPPER ESTATE

Pepper plants grow best in narrow, sheltered valleys where the damp soil has been fertilized
with fallen leaves. Some of the estates in Sarawak are so vast that light railways are needed
to transport the sacks of peppercorns quickly and easily to the storehouses. Sarawak also
exports sago, oil, rubber, rattan, gold and illippi nuts.

265

BORNEO THE ISLE OF SUMMER

in part because of the sparsity of its popu-
lation, which is confined to settlements
along the rivers. There are two adminis-
trative areas, a Western, and a Southern
and Eastern District, which once the
Dutch East India Company undertook to
control hut which now the Dutch Gov-
ernor-General governs, largely through
the natives.

The Sultan at Tengarung has a palace
lighted by electricity and protected from
the rains by a galvanized iron roof, which
is his great pride, and it is rumored that
he has had a total of forty wives. At any
rate, he wears incredible great diamonds
and keeps fighting cocks. His subjects in
the interior are still somewhat addicted to
piracy and head-hunting. There are,
however, Arabs and Chinese in the mines
and fisheries, and on the plantations, and
the Chinese conduct a considerable trade
with their own country. Dutch Borneo
contains a wealth of minerals. There are
big oil fields at Balik Papan, and new
wells are continuall being brought in.
There are diamond fields, of which prob-
ably the richest lies at Martapura. and
the timber (ironwood) and rubber indus-
tries are of consider^ible consequence be-
cause of the value of their products. In
Martapura and several other districts of
the southeastern division there is ship-
building, iron-forging, diamond-polishing,
gold and silver-smithery.

Borneo's location naturally directs her
trade to China and Australia and to the
Philippines. One expects her trading
vessels to go forth laden with ironwood
and rattan, rice, tol^acco and spices, hemp,
gums and resins. It is more surprising to
find in their holds the gelatinous birds'
nests found and collected in the vast sea
caves of coastal regions, a Chinese deli-
cacy, and hcche-dc-mcr, for the making of
Chinese soup. There are also armadillo
skins, seed pearls, gambler — a substance
used in tanning and dyeing — camphor,
and mineral oil from a rich field at Miri.

Need Roads and Railroads

One drawback to development in
Borneo is the lack of good roads and rail-
roads, though there are bridle paths and

native trails. River boats connect the vil-
lages and coasting steamers ply from port
to port.

Warring Tribes of the Interior

For the most part, as we have indicated,
the dominant native population is Malay.
More interesting as a matter of study are
the savage races of the interior. Most of
these tribes live in communities ruled by
chiefs, but numbers of them wander about
in the jungle, living on wild fruits and
the flesh of wild animals. Being of dif-
ferent races and speaking languages that
are unintelligible outside their own dis-
tricts, they are constantly making warfare
upon their neighbors. There is a good
deal of sickness among the natives, due
chiefly to lack of cleanliness about their
persons and the food they consume.

In such a country as Borneo, with its
thousands of miles of forest and jungle,
the people of the interior are mainly de-
pendent for their living upon the wild
creatures found there, though sago is
cultivated in some places, just as rice is
widely grown in the more civilized dis-
tricts. Fortunately for the aborigines,
deer, wild pigs, wild cattle and other ani-
mals are plentiful. These are snared in
traps or are brought down by a poisoned
dart from the l)low-pipe.

The Hairy "Man of the Woods'*

Monkeys, which are numerous, are
killed and eaten ; and here reference must
be made to Borneo's distinctive wild ani-
mal— the orang-utan. This great ape.
whose name means literally "man of the
woods," grows to a height of over four
feet ; its hair is reddish in color ; and the
extraordinary length of its arms enables
it to travel at an extraordinary pace by
swinging itself from tree to tree. Ele-
phants also are found, but only in North
Borneo. The tarsier, a mouselike crea-
ture that lives on insects, but is really a
primate, and thus belongs to the same
order as do the apes, is also a native of
Borneo. He is the odd little fellow shown
on page 261.

There are tapirs and ant-eaters, a moni-
tor lizard, pythons and cobras. There are

Hose

CURIOUS GRAVE OF A CHIEF IN THE DEPTHS OF THE JUNGLE

Passing through the Bomean jungle we may see a curious structure such as the one in the
photograph. It marks the grave of a chief, and the boxlike building is erected to keep off
the rain. Bags of food are suspended from the structure to appease evil spirits. Some of
the tribes are very particular about the treatment accorded to their dead, even embalming
the corpses and sometimes observing extended periods of mourning.

267

22 OJ "Sn

268

269

BORNEO THE ISLE OF SUMMER

minas, birds that can be taught to speak.
The honey-bear, by which is meant the
little Malay bear, a lover of the stores of
the wild bee of the jungle, is common in
this land of queer creatures. There is
also a mouse-deer or plandok, a dainty
creature no longer than a rabbit and not
nearly so heavy. A tender morsel for
anyone or anything that can catch it, it
goes leaping soundlessly through the
brush, its bio: eyes seemingly round with
fright.

Flying-frogs and ''Pepper Ants"

At twilight the flying-foxes play by
launching themselves parachute-like from
the branches to the ground. There are
even flying-frogs in the swamp lands.
Less attractive wild swine, many with
hornlike tusks, trot about in gluttonous
herds, their little black eyes savage with
hatred of the intruder. There are so-
called Borneo ponies in British North
Borneo ; and if one is to enumerate sev-
eral other living creatures that play a
prominent role on this extraordinary is-
land, one must name the fire ants and
"pepper ants" with their painful bite, the
sand-flies, the wood-leeches and in the
marshes, the horse-leeches. The coastal
waters are full of sharks. Scientists judge
from the presence of a number of these
species of animal life that the island may
once have been connected with the con-
tinent of Asia.

Spiked Fruit and Pitcher Plants

Among other hazards of life in the
jungle might be mentioned the durian, a
large fruit covered with stout pyramidal
spikes. When such an object falls from
the top of a tall tree it really injures
people. Its flesh is prized by the natives,
though white men are appalled by its odor.
Another strange thing found in Borneo is
the pitcher plant, some of which are large
enough to hold a quart of rain water.

Among the many interesting things to
be seen in Borneo are the "long-houses,"
the wooden buildings in which communi-
ties generally dwell together. All the na-
tive tribes, with one exception, build these
long-houses. The Punans, who wander

from spot to spot, but usually inhabit the
densest part of the jungle, do not lead
any kind of village life. When some of
them have been induced to settle, they
have only been able to construct the
rudest of houses, a poor imitation of those
of their neighbors.

The long-houses of the various tribes
differ only in size, in certain details of con-
struction and in their decoration. One
such house may be set up to accommodate
fifty people ; others will hold as many as
three, and even five hundred. A long-
house is built of wood and may be as
much as four hundred yards in length.
The structure is divided into a num-
ber of rooms in which separate families
lodge. This article shows an excellent
view of the interior of one of these com-
munal houses on page 269.

In a Kayan ''Long-house''

If we were to i)ecp into one of the
rooms we should see that it was about
twenty-five feet wide, that it contained sev-
eral alcoves or sleeping-places screened off
at the sides, and that in the centre of the
mat-covered floor was a rough fireplace
made of a slab of clay in a wooden frame.
For ventilation and light, a trapdoor,
opened and closed at will, is fixed in the
roof.

In addition to the family fireplaces, the
tenants of a long-house have access to
other fires that are kindled at intervals
along the outer gallery. Some of these
are kept continually alight. Over one of
these communal fireplaces — usually the
one near the chief's quarters — is to be
seen a row of dried human heads, together
with various charms and war trophies.

All such native dwelling-houses are
built along, or near, the water. This is
because rivers are the great highways of
Borneo. There are no roads except in
those coastal settlements where towns
have sprung up, and there are not even
beaten tracks of any imi)ortance through
the jungle. The long-houses are built
upon i)iles because they thus offer bet-
ter protection against marauding head-
hunters ; but the piles must be tall ones,
for were the house not raised high from

Hose

WARRIORS OF THE QUARRELSOME SEA DAYAKS IN FULL DRESS

Muscular and graceful, these young men belong to the most warlike tribe in Borneo. Two
of them have decorated their swords with tufts of human hair and all of them are wearing
ivory armlets. The man on the right has a number of fibre wristlets which were once used
as currency, a necklace of nuts, and, finally, earrings.

the ground, the sleeping inmates might be
speared through the floor from below. We
shall see that under the house are stored
the boats that are not in actual use. Here,
too, will be some of the livestock of the
village — pigs, dogs, goats and fowls — all
of which add to the unsanitary condition,
however convenient the arrangement.

Of the native peoples mentioned, the
Sea Dayaks, or Ibans, are the best knov/n
to white men. This is mainly because
they are numerous in Sarawak. Stouter
in build than his land brothers, the Sea
Dayak has well proportioned limbs, his
figure is neat and almost boyish, and he
walks with an air that stamps him as ^

271

BORNEO THE ISLE OF SUMMER

resolute fellow. Though he is not dis-
pleasing in countenance, his lips and teeth
are usually discolored by the chewing of
betel-nut.

The Sea Dayak is lively in disposition,
often boastful and excitable, and always
talkative and cheerful. His chief char-
acteristic, however, is his restlessness.
The darker side of the picture presents
him as quarrelsome and treacherous, with
little liking for discipline and with little
loyalty to his chiefs. He is, moreover, an
inveterate head-hunter.

The Kayans, who are found through-
out central Borneo, are a warlike people,
but they are less quarrelsome than the
Dayaks. They excel above all things in
various handicrafts. They are skilled in
smelting iron and in the manufacture of
swords. The Kayans are probably the

best boat-builders on the island, and some
of their decorative work on the boats and
on the paddles is very striking.

Both the Kayans and the Kenyahs are
fairer of skin than are the other tribes,
and their physique is finer. The Ken-
yahs have the reputation of being the
most intelligent and courageous of all
Borneo's native tribes.

The Punans are the most primitive of
all the tribes. They roam the forests in
bands, supporting themselves as they
travel on wild sago and other natural
products, and by shooting game with their
blow-pipes. For most manufactured ar-
ticles, such as swords, spears and cloth,
they are dependent upon others. Even to
make their blow-pipes they must go to
the iron-working Kayans, for the metal
rods used in boring the long tubes.

BORNEO: FACTS AND FIGURES

GOVERNMENT

Great island in the Malay archipelago.
Bounded on north and northwest by South
China Sea, northeast by Sulu Sea, east by
Celebes Sea and Strait of Macassar, south by
Java Sea, and southwest by Karimata Strait
Area, 289,860 square miles ; estimated popula-
tion, 2,660,134. Politically Borneo is divided
into (i) British North Borneo, (2) Brunei,
(3) Sarawak and (4) Dutch Borneo.

BRITISH NORTH BORNEO

Occupies extreme northeast section of the
island. Area, 31,106; population (1921), 257,-
804, chiefly Mohammedan settlers on coast and
aboriginal tribes in the interior. Administered
by British North Borneo Company, holding
grants from Sultans of Brunei and Sulu with
governor in Borneo and court of directors in
London. Chief products : timber, sago, rice,
coconuts, gums, coffee, gutta percha, rubber,
tobacco, coal, iron and gold. Additional ex-
ports : birds' nests, seed pearls, bcchc-de-mer.
Railway, 127 miles. Communication by tele-
graph, telephone and wireless. Protestant and
Catholic missions. Capital, Sandakan, popu-
lation, 11,930-

BRUNEI

Malayan Sultanate on northwest coast of
island under British protection. General ad-
ministration by British Resident. Area, 2,500 ;
population (1921), 25,444, chiefly natives. Na-
tive industries : boat-building, cloth-weaving,
brass foundries ; chief products, mangrove ex-
tract, rubber, sago and timber. Imports : rice,
tobacco, piece goods. There are 4 wireless
stations; 5 vernacular schools in 1926. Chief
town : Brunei, population, 12,000.

SARAWAK

Independent state on northwest coast of
Borneo. Area, 50,000 square miles with 450
miles of coastline ; estimated population,
600,000. Administered by English rajah; under
British protection. Exports : sago, flour,
pepper, gold, rubber, gutta jelulong, gutta
percha, cutch, crude oil, coal and rattans.
There are 34 post offices ; 20 wireless stations,
local government telephone system. Protestant
and Catholic missions. Chief towns : Kuching
(capital), Sibu and Miri.

DUTCH BORNEO

Central and southern section of the island,
comprising nearly three-fourths the entire area.
Two divisions : Western District, area, 56,838 ;
population (1926), 685,545; Southern and
Eastern Districts, area, 149,972; population
(1926), 1,091,341. Legislative power divided
between Governor-General of Dutch East
Indies and Volksraad (members elected or ap-
pointed— some natives). Administration in
hands of Governor-General assisted by an Ad-
visory Council of five members. Chief occu-
pations : mining, fishing, agriculture, spinning,
weaving and dyeing, manufacture of iron im-
plements, gold and diamond-polishing. Chief
exports : copra, petroleum, antimony, gold,
diamonds, iron, mineral oils, timber, rice,
pepper, tobacco, spices and coffee. Telephone,
telegraph and radio communication. Entire
religious liberty. Majority of natives Moham-
medans. Protestant and Catholic missions.
Government primary and secondary schools
for all classes ; instruction in native tongues
and Dutch. Normal and technical schools.
Capital, Banjermasin, population (1926 esti-
mate), 64,947.

272

The Men of the Blow^pipe

Hoiu the Bornean Savages Use This Peculiar Weapon

The blow-pipe is a mysterious weapon which deals death at seventy yards ;
those most addicted to its use are perhaps the Borneans, though the blow-pipe
is used in several other parts of the world. Of the Rorneans themselves,
savage and civilized, and the beautiful country in which they live under Dutch
and British rule, we have just dealt in the preceding chapter. The pictures tell
the story of the fashioning of the "sumpitan," as the natives call the blow-
pipe, from the wood of the jajang tree, its testing and the poisoning of the
darts with the sap of the upas tree. Strange indeed that such a curious device
should also be used twelve thousand miles away, in Peru !

IT is green dusk in the forest. The tall
palm and gittta-percha trees, with
their interlacing branches and their
masses of creepers, shut out almost all the
sunlight. Down at their base the under-
growth of jungle is thick and at times im-
penetrable. It needs an ax to hack one's
way through the mass of vegetation. In
few other ]:)laces in the world is the forest
so dense and for1)idding as it is here, in
the heart of Borneo.

The humid heat is soporific. The ferny
soil gives ofif a dank aroma that mingles
with a faint perfume of wild orchids.
High up in a tree a monkey begins to
chatter. Soon others join in. The
squabble, whatever its cause, becomes a
noisy one. A score of monkeys are pro-
claiming their grievances to the world.
Suddenl)^ two dark-skinned native youths
steal noiselessly into a little clearing be-
tween the trees. Each of them carries a
long wooden rod with a slight curve in its
lower end. This is the famous blow-pipe
of the Borneans, a weapon of the most
deadly character when used to propel one
of the poisoned darts such as the natives
carry in the quivers at their waists.

There is a moment's pause. Then a
dart is slipped into the blow-pipe, the
weapon is raised, aim is swiftly taken, and
the chattering overhead breaks into con-
fused cries of alarm as a monkey topples
down, down through the leafy branches.
The Bornean hunter has secured another
of the tree-folk for his "bag."

And what is this blow-pipe, or ''sum-
pitan," to use the native name — this death-
dealer of savage devising ? It is a weapon

which, whether used in warfare or — as
more commonly — in the chase, is the
Bornean's typical instrument of destruc-
tion. In such a country as his, thickly
covered with forest and matted jungle, a
bow and arrow would be of little service.
The blow-pipe has been fashioned to pro-
vide the forest-dweller with a weapon
peculiarly suited to his surroundings.

For fighting, swords and spears are also
em])loyed by the native warriors, but the
skill with which the blow-pipe and its
deadly missile, the dart, can be utilized,
makes it even more formidable. A Pu-
nan, it is stated, can kill his man at a dis-
tance of seventy yards.

The making of a sumpitan is an inter-
esting process. First of all, a jajang tree
is felled. P'rom the hard, straight-grained
wood are split strips of about eight feet,
roughly, the length of the blow-pipe. One
of these strips is then fashioned, by means
of an adze, into a cylindrical form some
two or three inches in diameter. But let
us watch a native craftsman as he pro-
ceeds to turn out the finished article.

As one of our illustrations shows, the
blow-pipe maker stands upon a platform
several feet above the ground with the
wooden rod set up vertically before him.
This rod is strongly lashed to the plat-
form and other supports during the proc-
ess of boring that follows.

The operation is accomplished by
means of a long, straight iron rod rather
less in diameter than the bore desired for
the pipe. One end of this rod is chisel-
shaped with a keen edge. The Bornean
makes his first incision with great care,

273

FIRST STEPS IN THE ART OF MAKING A BLOW-PIPE

Though the warriors of Borneo carry swords like the one here used as an adze, their most
useful weapon is that amazing instrument, the blow-pipe. This Kayan is here shown cutting
a length of a hard wood called "jajang" to the right diameter. In succeeding photographs
he will be seen as he completes the making of his blow-pipe and uses it.

274

BORING A HOLE WITH NEITHER LATHE NOR BIT NOR BRACE

The pole of jajang wood is some eight feet long, and has here been whittled to a thickness
of about two to three inches. The next process is to hollow it. To do this, the Kayan
stands on a platform and hammers downward with an iron rod while a friend pours water
from a bamboo vessel into the hole in order to float out the accumulation of chips.

275

THE CRAFTSMAN SEES THAT HIS L4BOR IS GOOD

After the blow-pipe has been bored it is cut down to its final width of an inch at the mouth-
piece, tapering to three-quarters at the muzzle. The central bore is then polished to a
diameter of a third of an inch. Next the whole weapon is slightly bent, with the aid of
heat, so that on looking through it only half of the hole at the farther end can be seen.

AT WORK ON THE SILENT DARTS OF DEATH

Finally comes the business of making the darts for the blow-pipe. These consist of two
portions. The piercing part is a spike of tough wood about nine inches long, to the hinder
end of which is attached a plug of hard pith. This must fit the pipe exactly for some of its
length and then taper forward to lessen the air-resistance when in flight.

276

HOW THE IRON FOR THE BORNEO BLOW-PIPES IS FORGED

The iron for the tools used in making the blow-pipes is smelted in a charcoal fire, into
which a blast of air is blown by working a sort of feather mop, like a piston, up and down
in the hollow logs seen on the left. The metal is then hammered with a stone mallet on a
stone anvil. These workmen are Kalabits, expert smiths like the Kayans.

exactly in the centre of the flattened end
of the pole. He then continues to pierce
the wood with downward blows. He turns
the iron rod in his hands as he does so,
and thus, inch by inch, a hollow is formed
right through the tube. As the rod while
being worked in this manner must be
held exactly vertical, the blow-pipe maker
fixes two or three forked sticks horizon-
tally and at different levels above the plat-
form. In these guides the metal rod slides
easily up and down and is kept in the
straight line required.

In the picture at which we have been
looking there is a young assistant, to
whom is allotted the task of pouring water
from time to time into the steadily deep-
ening hole. In this way the little chips
of wood are washed out. As a rule, the
work of boring through the whole of the
pipe takes about six hours' continuous
labor and unlimited patience.

The lower end of a blow-pipe is always
slightly curved. This shape is produced
l)y bending the pi])e and binding it in posi-
tion with rattan fibre for some time. The
object of the curvature is to allow for the
bending of the tube caused by the weight
of a spear-head which is often fixed to
the top. In this way the blow-pipe may
be converted into a sort of bayonet.

Should the desired curvature not be se-
cured by the means just descril:)ed, the
wooden tube is hung horizontally on
loops, and heavy weights are thea fas-
tened to the muzzle end. When the
craftsman peers through the bore, and
sights only a half-circle of daylight, he
knows that the precise degree of curving
has been attained. He then heats the
wood with torchc ■ so that when the tube
has cooled it retains the curvature. Noth-
ing now remains to be done but to finish
off the blow-pipe by polishing. For

277

THE KAYAN GETS POISON FROM A RUBBER-LIKE TREE

A blow-pipe is deadly when used against small animals, and even against human foes; but
this is solely due to the poison on its darts. The tree that furnishes the poison is the ipoh,
more familiar under the name upas. Our Kayan has made deep cuts in the bark and is
here collecting in a bamboo cup the milk-white sap that flows from the tree.

278

HE PREPARES THE POISON AND TIPS THE DARTS

Before use the sap of the ipoh tree must be thickened by heating over a fire, a process which
leaves it a dark paste. It is then thinned down again. It is now ready to tip the darts of
the deadly blow-pipe. Many legends have grown up about the poisonous upas tree, such as
that it kills all life around it for a great distance; but this is absurd.

smoothing the rough outside the best ar-
ticle to use is the dried skin of the sting-
ray, a sea-fish which makes its way up the
rivers. An extra surface is afterward
given with the leaf of a certain shrub
which forms a good substitute for emery
paper. The inside — the l^ore itself — is
polished by means of a long piece of rat-
tan, a fibrous cane, which is pulled to and
fro through the entire length until the
blow-pipe maker is satisfied that the sides
of the tube are really smooth.

Without its poisoned dart the sumpitan
would of course have but little effect. The
deadly Httle missile is made from the
tough wood of the wild sago palm. It is
only some nine inches in length and one-
eighth of an inch in diameter. At one ex-
tremity is fitted a tapering pith cylinder
an inch long the butt end of which is
exactly equal in diameter to the bore of
the pipe.

The poison which is applied to the dart
is obtained from the ipoh tree. When the

bark is cut a milky juice oozes therefrom,
and this is collected and heated over a fire
until it forms a dark brown paste. For
the final application this paste is worked
into a thinner consistency. In the mean-
time a circular groove has been cut around
the shaft of the dart, at a distance of two
inches from its tip. The poison is now
rubbed in here and left to dry.

Such a poisoned dart as described is
astoundingly effective if used against
small game. But for human beings, for
deer and pig and other larger creatures,
it is necessary to employ a bigger dose of
the ipoh poison. For this purpose a piece
of metal, usually tin, is slipped into the
shaft of the dart and the mixture spread
upon its surface.

Although the tools employed by the na-
tive craftsman are rough, the blow-pipe is
fashioned with considerable skill and ar-
tistry. Were this not the case it would
be impossible for the Bornean warrior or
hunter to attain precision of aim.

279

TWO BORNEO MARKSMEN OUT AFTER MONKEYS

To make the blow-pipe with such primitive tools is wonderful enough, but now let us watch
the weapon in use. Light enough to be poised in one hand, it is roughly aimed while the dart
is being inserted. Then comes the final aiming and — pu§! — a monkey is dead. Within a
range of seventy yards many of these marksmen are as accurate as a rifleman.

280

BACK AFTER A SUCCESSFUL DAY IN THE JUNGLE

Behold the spoils of the chase! Bigger game than monkeys can be killed with the blow-pipe,
and our instructor in the art has captured a fine young forest pig for the cooking-pot. It
will be noticed that just as rifles can have bayonets affixed to them, so the Borneo blow-pipe
is given a second use by having a spear-point lashed to the muzzle end.

281

THE SAKAIS OF MALAYA HUNT WITH ' SUMPITANS"

Jumping now from Borneo to the neighboring Malay Peninsula, v-e again find the blow-pipe
in use among the forest tribes. Indeed, it is thought that Malays introduced the weapon to
Borneo. These Sakais, however, may in their turn have taught the Malays, for they are
descended from older inhabitants, who were akin to Australasian peoples.

2A2

G. ^r. Dvott

TWELVE THOUSAND MILES FROM BORNEO: THE BLOW-PIPE IN PERU

The blow-pipe as used in the forest country of Peru east of the Andes Mountains — called
the "Montana" — is hardly to be distinguished from that of Borneo, except that the poison
used is curari, which paralyzes the action of the heart. The quiver in which the darts are
kept slung around the waist of the marksman is also like that of the Kayan.

THE MEN OF THE BLOW -PIPE

Must Use Iron Rod of Kay arts

It is interesting to note in this con-
nection that the Punan tribesman, who is
one of the most expert users of the blow-
pipe, cannot make his chosen weapon un-
assisted. He has no knowledge of work-
ing in metals. For the iron rod which
is so necessary for the boring of the tube
he has to go to his neighbor, the Kayan.
At the present day the Kayans are the
most skilled ironworkers on the island, and
their swords and spears are rivaled only by
those of the Kenyahs. Such iron as they
use is mostly obtained from Malay and
Chinese traders, but native ore is still
smelted at some places in the far interior.

When not in use, the darts are kept in
a quiver made of a section of bamboo
fitted with a cap. This receptacle is at-
tached to the belt by a wooden hook. As
a general rule, the darts themselves are
wrapped in a squirrel skin, while tied to
the quiver is a small gourd in which is
carried a supply of the piths used in the
propulsion of the darts.

Like so man_, savage people the Bor-
nean natives are steeped in superstition.
They believe in magic, in spells and
charms, and accordingly there will be a
special charm attached to the quiver of
a man's blow-pipe. This charm is often
dipped in the blood of an animal that has
been slain. The owner believes that the
virtues of his mascot are thus greatly
increased.

Death-tubes in Malaya and Peru

The fact that some of the inland tribes
of Borneo were originally of Alalayan
stock, and also that the island was over-
run by Malays centuries ago, accounts for
the presence of the blow-pipe as a na-
tional weapon. For in the Malay States
the sumpitan has been in regular use as
long as history can record. In Perak, in
the jungly hill country, some of the abo-
riginal inhabitants, such as the Sakais, still
roam the woods with blow-pipes in hand.
The Sakai makes his blow-pipe of a single
joint of a rare species of bamboo ; and he
whittles darts as fine as knitting needles
from the mid-rib of a certain palm leaf.

With these he can kill at thirty ])accs.

But if there is nothing extraordinary
in the fact that the blow-pipe is common
to the Malay States and Borneo, what
shall we say when we learn that it is used
by such far-distant a people as the natives
of Peru, half the earth's circumference
removed? Here is a seeming marvel.
There can be no racial connection be-
tween the Indians of Peru and the several
tribes of inland Borneo. It is not at all
likely that any communication has been
held between the two peoples in past times,
and yet in each country the primitive sav-
age forest-dweller has found out the
secret of the blow-pipe's power to propel
a poisoned dart from its mouth.

Make Use of Nature's Poison

We can but gather from this remark-
able coincidence that the evolution of the
blow-pipe from some earlier form of the
weapon has resulted from similar condi-
tions of life both in Borneo and in Peru.

In the swampy, jungly country east of
that mighty chain of mountains, the
Andes, whence the tributaries of the great
Amazon flow, in the region known as the
AFontana, the native Peruvian lives much
the same kind of life as does his brown-
skinned brother of the Punan, Kleman-
tan, Kayan and other Bornean tribes.
He hunts and faces his enemies in a dark
forest world where no other weapon could
possibly serve his purpose so well. The
trees of his own land furnish the wood
from which the indispensable blow-pipe is
made.

The Peruvian Indian has also at hand
the poison with which to anoint his darts.
In place of the ipoh tree of Borneo, he re-
sorts to a plant from which he can ex-
tract curari. This poisonous substance is
deadly in its effect ; it quickly causes paral-
ysis and stops the heart's action. Like the
juice of the ipoh, it is, of course, poisonous
only if it finds its way into the blood
directly through a wound. Otherwise
game killed with it would not be fit for
eating. In both South America and Bor-
neo we thus see how the savage has turned
to Nature to provide him with his surest
weapons and means of securing his food.

Isles of Unrest

Among the Fierce Tribes of the Philippines

The Philippine Archipelago, more than 4,700 miles southwest of Hawaii and
separated from Borneo and French Indo-China only by the Suln and China
seas, numbers a total of over seven thousand isles, though many are but
coral atolls and the two largest, Luzon and Mindanao, could probably hold
all the others within their ragged shorelines. As they lie directly on one of
the great trade routes to the Far East, their history until fairly recently was
one of piracy and unrest. The leading tribes had a civilization when the
Spanish conquerors came ; and since United States occupation these same
peoples have made rapid progress in Western ways. The climate is tropical,
the soil fertile, and there are valuable mines and forests.

THE cluster of islands known as the
Philippines, in the Malay Archi-
pelago, stretches north and south
for over a thousand miles through the
Pacific, a part of the subterranean moun-
tain range that makes stepping stones to
P)orneo and Celebes. Luzon, with its
deep, tide-bitten Manila Bay, and Min-
danao are by far the largest of these is-
lands, though others, Samar. Negros.
Palawan, Panay, Mindoro, Leyte and
Cebu are of fair size. The remaining
seven thousand include numbers of mere
coral atolls. There is, however, a com-
bined coastline of nearly twelve thousand
miles. At Manila the dry winters may be
as cool as 70 degrees, though the wet
springs are too hot for white men and in-
spire no great activity on the part of the
natives.

This is a land of typhoons, perhaps
twenty a year, with occasional tidal waves
that wipe out villages. Earthquakes are
a commonplace, and of the high mountains
of the islands, twenty are active volcanoes.
An eruption in 1897 destroyed the town
of San Fernando on Mindanao, and Taal
was violent as lately as 191 1. The moun-
tains are for the most part densely for-
ested, for their slopes are watered by
downpours of, often, two hundred inches
a year. Pines on the upper slopes give
way to bamboo on the lower. The gov-
ernment owns most of the forest lands.
Here the jungle, where such exists, is
densely tangled, and the trails are steam-
ing hot, menaced by pythons and alive
with mosquitoes. In places where the sea
runs inland through mangrove swamps.

the mud is quagmire and the unaccus-
tomed traveler sinks waist-deep in gaseous
slime, while he pulls himself along by the
snakelike roots to the booming of a billion
frogs.

This is only part of the picture, how-
ever. In other places there are pretty
coral islets and beaches of fine white sand
with palm trees spreading lacelike against
the sky. The large islands have vast tracts
of fertile plantations in which sugar, hemp
and coffee, rubber and tobacco, to say
nothing of coconuts and bananas grow
with tropical generosity, even at the ex-
pense of only moderate industry on the
part of the cultivators. Rice has long
been grown on walled terraces on the
mountainsides.

In many places thatched houses are
built low and broad to withstand the
earthquakes ; but some of the natives build
their huts on tall piles or high in the trees
for protection against reptiles, wild beasts
and sometimes wilder neighbors. Fishing
ranks next to agriculture in importance.
There are said to be - five hundred kinds
of edible sea-food. Alany of these would
be familiar to us ; but there are also five-
foot clams, equally huge sea-turtles whose
flesh is prized and whose tortoise shells
make spectacle frames. One kind of sea-
shell is split for window glass in native
houses, one is used to edge the knives
used in the rice fields, another kind makes
good drinking-cups. The seas also con-
tain playful dolphins, furtive dugongs and
blunt-nosed cachalots.

Probably the deepest of half a dozen
deep holes in the floor of the Pacific lies

285

ISLES OF UNREST

just off Mindanao. According to the

sonic depth-finder of the Carnegie Insti-
tution, this hole goes 34,000 feet toward
the centre of the earth — deeper than the
highest mountains are tall. Another
"deep" lies off Guam, the little .island in
the Mariana group some 1,500 miles west
of the Philippines which the United States
finds valuable as a fuel station of her fleet.

Fire-birds and Iguanas

The hills are the haunt of large wild
buffalo and the jungles of the smaller
timarau or water-buffalo, so often domes-
ticated ; monkeys leap from branch to
branch and are often caught in mid-air
by large eagles, while sun-birds and fire-
birds are but a few of the myriad that
add flecks of color to the scenery. Jungle
fowl and large fruit-bats add to the na-
tive larder ; flying-lizards lend a touch of
strangeness and their big cousins, the
iguanas, often grow to five feet in length.
On the beaches a mound-building bird
buries its eggs two or three feet deep and
leaves its young to dig a way out.

It is believed that the original inhabi-
tants of these islands were the fuzzy-
haired dwarf Negritos of low intelligence
who have long since been driven into the
interior. Long before Columbus, Malay
pirates began over-running the islands and
as a consequence, Malayan blood and cul-
ture are evident in the various tribes of
the Filipinos. At one time Chinese traders
steered their junks across to the islands
and gained a foothold, though repeated
attempts were later made to drive out
Chinese immigrants. Indeed, there are
Chinese-Filipinos to-day of wealth and
position.

Filipinos Malayan Immigrants

The next people to reach the islands
were the Igorrotes, who represent the
first Malay invasion. A second Malay
invasion drove them northward and away
from the coast. These latter are the
people we know as Filipinos. They are
the civilized tribes — Visayans, Tagalogs,
Ilocanos, and others who were in control
when the Spanish came. The Moros
represent a third Malay invasion. They

are Mohammedans who live in the south-
ern part of the archipelago. The name
Moro is Spanish for Moor and was ap-
plied generally to Mohammedans : Mo-
hammedan influence reached them as long
ago as 1380.

It is, however, the representatives of
the second Malay invasion who are the
most important. They were Christian-
ized and partly civilized by the Spaniards.
Of these, the Visayans were perhaps the
most highly civilized when the Spanish
came, but since that time their progress
has been less rapid than that of the Ta-
galogs, the leading inhabitants of Manila,
central Luzon and Mindanao ; for the
Tagalogs are now the most highly cul-
tured of the brown races of the islands.
But we will have more to say of the
Filipino tribes later on. The islands,
named for Philip II of Spain, were first
sighted by Magellan. (The term Filipino
comes from the Spanish form of Philip.)
When the Spanish sea-rovers, fresh from
conquests in South America and the West
Indies, turned to this Pacific territory, it
was, as we have seen, not a race of sav-
ages they found.

Tagalog Language Preserved

Many of the most influential and im-
portant people of Manila to-day are Taga-
logs. Indeed, the United States admin-
istration is preserving their language and
teaching it in terms of the English alpha-
bet. Some of the leading Filipinos also
have Spanish blood in their veins and are
called mestizos. The latter wear West-
ern dress, the peasants with a Spanish
neck-cloth. Of the population of some
10,300,000 which inhabits the Philippines,
91 per cent are Christian while 9 per cent
are divided between Mohammedan Moros,
a smaller number of pagans and a few
Chinese.

From the earliest times the Moros were
builders of swift craft. As the Koran
permits, they practiced piracy and held
slaves. Clad in metal armor of their own
devising, armed with weapons loaded with
their own gunpowder, they had for gen-
erations taken the strongest boys and the
most comely young women from the Visa-

120

124

r^i = E English Miles

120 124

HUDDLED FESTOON OF VOLCANIC ISLES AND ISLETS

287

Ewing Cialloway

A WATERFRONT VIEW AT MANILA, SHOWING WESTERN ARCHITECTURE

Manila has a number of fine public buildings, and literally hundreds of sugar, hemp and to-
bacco factories, sawmills and rice granaries. But we remember we are in the South Seas
when, in the markets, we find such delicacies as tender baby octopuses and the wild tree
melons known as papayas, to say nothing of that native favorite, duck eggs ready to hatch.

yans to be their slaves ; they had looted
China and Japan of amber and sandal-
w^ood, silk and porcelain, they had taken
diamonds, rubies and spices in Borneo.
Their headquarters, Jolo, in Sulu, was the
first city in the Philippines ; and there
they built passable houses, cultivated gar-
dens and had as many waives as they could
afford. They v^ere a people skilled at
carving and inlaying and w^orking in pre-
cious metals ; they had their own music
and poetry, they possessed a written al-
phabet and had accumulated libraries —
which were destroyed by the Spanish in
their progress with fire and sword through
the islands. Small wonder that when
Cross and Crescent met, there was war-
fare that lasted intermittently for three
hundred years ! Magellan, who had discov-
ered the islands in 1521, had made an al-
liance with the natives on Cebu when he
crossed to Mactan and was killed in a
hostile skirmish. The Spanish conquista-
dor Legaspi (Legazpi) formed the first
settlement on Cebu, and Spain took pos-
session of the islands in 1565.

To-day these Moros keep chiefly to
Mindanao and Sulu, where they dwell in
pile-built villages along the coast and go

about in canoes. They are a bronze
people with straight black hair and the
keen eyes of the fighter. Quick to adapt
themselves to Western ways, they show
the influence of a Spanish civilization in
the tight-fitting trousers that button
up the sides, though their religion obliges
them to wear turbans. The women love
brilliant colors and jewelry.

The Igorrotes are all strongly built
peo])le with coppery, high cheek-bones and
hair which the men wear to their shoulders
as long as they keep to their own ways.
However, increasing numbers of their
children are being sent to school. The
various tribes, of which there are twenty-
three, all told, vary in culture and ap-
pearance, but their languages are derived
from a common stock and there is a gen-
eral resemblance both outwardly and in
qualities of mind and character. Those
in the remoter regions live by hunting and
fishing, and one tribe, the Ifuagos of the
mountain fastnesses, have the reputation
of being head-hunters. Some of these
when converted to the ways of peace
have been found to make excellent mem-
bers of the aggressive native constabu-
lary. One tribe, the Tinguians, wear their

288

ISLES OF UNREST

hair in a tuft upon the crown — a
mode reminiscent of the Japanese.
The Visayans outnumber even the
Tagalogs. They are the chief in-
habitants of the central part of the
archipelago and of the north and
east coasts of Mindanao. They
are the chief agriculturalists of
the islands and work contentedly
on the sugar, hemp and coconut
plantations. Such are the Fili-
pinos.

Spanish rule in the islands was
not a happy one, and in 1896 there
was a great rising, and the Philip-
pines became a veritable hornets'
nest. When, in the course of the
war between the United States
and Spain, Commodore George
Dewey sailed into Manila Bay
and destroyed the Spanish fleet
(May I, 1898), and Manila soon
afterward surrendered, Spain sold
the islands to the United States
for $20,000,000. But the Filipino
general, Emilio Aguinaldo, who
desired immediate independence,
continued revolutionary activities
for several years ; and it was not
until he was captured that peace
was restored and the first gover-
nor-general, the Honorable W. H. Taft,
was able to begin the work of preparing
i:he natives for self-government.

Under the rule of the United States
order has been restored, roads built,
schools established, and health conditions
enormously improved. The Filipinos
have been granted an increasing meas-
ure of self-government until now the
most important offices, except those of
governor and vice-governor (who is also
superintendent of education), are held by
the Filipinos themselves. However, the
demand for complete independence is still
widespread.

''Had the United States left the Fili-
pinos to themselves, these islands would
soon have been in a state of anarchy and
probably would thereafter have belonged
to Japan," declares no less an authority
than Isaiah Bowman, director of the
American Geographical Society. As it

RICE TERRACES BUILT ON

Publishers Photo Service

THE MOUNTAINS

This engineering feat of a farm school in Banaue Valley,
Mountain Province, is modeled on the rice terraces built
centuries ago by the mountain tribes of Luzon. The
walls hold water brought, often, long distances.

is, the Japanese are spreading into the
Philippines and Japanese power in the
Pacific has been enormously extended
since the outbreak of the World War.

We have an epitome of Philippine his-
tory preserved for us in the capital at
Manila, which lies along the Pasig River
on Manila Bay, with a view of distant
mountains. Here the tourist will find the
months of December to March delightful,
though April and May are hot and the
rest of the year exceedingly rainy. There
are really three Manilas, beginning with
the "Maynila" of the original Malays,
who built thatched wooden huts and
used carabaos to draw their carts. Their
cjuaint fishing-boats and multitudinous
house-boats still line the canals of the
most populous quarters, though sanitary
conditions have been so enormously im-
proved that malaria, leprosy and cholera
are no longer such a menace. This May-

289

ISLES OF UNREST

nila the Spaniard Legaspi took and for-
tified in 1 571. The walls that still en-
close the old city were originally designed
to keep out pirates. Here one may still
find the Manila of the old Spanish days,
with its medieval convents and churches
and its balconied Moorish houses, al-
though in 1863 a big earthquake shook
down at least forty of the public build-
ings. Here one still hears Spanish in the
streets ; for though English has been made
the official language of the islands, Span-
ish may be substituted until 1940. Op-
posite Real Gate is an aquarium worth
visiting which dates from 1913.

Entering the Manila that has sprung
up since the authority of the United States
was extended to the islands, one finds
large piers and warehouses and a float-
ing dock ; for Manila handles the lion's
share of the shipping of the Philippines.
McKinley Plaza is the site of the official
buildings, though the governor-general

lives elsewhere, on what resembles a
handsome country estate.

Across the river from the walled city,
with which it is connected by the Bridge
of Spain, is the commercial centre, Bi-
nondo. Here is the main post office, here
are the leading banks and shipping houses
and most of the big hotels and theatres.
The chief street, La Escolta, has Euro-
pean and American shops. At the end
farthest from the bridge the tourist will
find the native Chinese and other jew-
elers, painters and enamelers. After a
day here or in the wholesale district, one
repairs to the Luneta, an elliptical drive
along the shore where band concerts are
given and the Army and Navy Club is
situated. A highway leading along the
river, Paseo de Magallanes, leads to an
obelisk to the discoverer of the Philip-
pines. Manila has many good schools and
colleges which will be found listed in the
summary. Xo expense has been spared.

riiilippine P.ureau of Science

A KALINGA WOMAN'S DRESS IS AN AMAZING MEDLEY OF COLOR

The Kalinga tribe, which inhabits a part of Mountain Province in the north of Luzon
Island, is a fierce and warlike people who were never tamed by the Spaniards. The
United States of America, however, has partially subdued them, and, though some of
the natives are still wild men of the woods, most are now reasonably law-abidins: people.

290

Bureau of Science, Manila

PENSIVE PERFORMERS OF A PHILIPPINE STRING DUET

Many people have testified to the musical aptitude of the civilized Filipino. Every village,
they say, has its band, almost every house a harp or piano. This photograph of two gaily
clad men about to play a duet shows us that this love of music is shared by the wild tribes,
for they are members of the half-savage, half-cultured Bagobos of Mindanao.

291

THIS BOY OF BATANGAS IS AN EXPERT CLIMBER OF TREES

Filipinos have found that coconut palms yield something else besides nuts. They know
that the flower stalks secrete tupa, a juice that makes a delectable drink. Notches are cut
in the trunks to give foothold and then boys clamber up, apparently with the greatest ease.
This lad carries upon his back a vessel in which to collect the liquid.

292

DARK-SKINNED MORO WARRIOR WITH SWORD AND PAINTED SHIELD

Although by far the greater number of the inhabitants of the Philippines are Christians,
there are still many pagan tribes as well as a race of Mohammedans called Moros. These
Moros are a fierce and warlike people living in eastern Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago
who for centuries terrorized their neighbors by their ruthless slave raids.

293

ISLES OF UNREST

The tribes of the mountains of Luzon
have preserved an ancient civilization of
their own. They have a well developed
polytheism, with its priesthood; they
have preserved their genealogies and
their social customs, and built pyramid-
roofed wooden dwellings on pillars
equipped with rat-guards. The United
States gained its first friends among them
by the good works of their doctors, who
achieved cures in the face of supersti-
tion. In time the doctors introduced
teachers ; and no less an individual than
the late Dean C. Worcester, as Secretary
of the Interior, initiated inter-tribal
feasts and the sportsmanlike tug of war
contests which have persuaded many a
one-time head-hunter to the ways of
peace.

Cool, Pine-girt Baguio

Five thousand feet above the sea in
the pine-clad hills of northern Luzon lies
a country swept by breezes that keep the
temperature around 65 degrees by day,
while by evening one enjoys a wood-fire.
This is the setting of Baguio, which has
been made into a summer capital and
health resort. The first men to visit the
spot sailed to San Fernando and rode
thence by horseback; but under Judge
Taft's Commission a so-called Benguet
Road was built, at great cost, to follow
the Bued River. This road met successive
floods and landslides, until in 191 1 there
came a cloudburst that swept a part of
the mountainside into the valley, block-
ing the river until it rose 150 feet. When
it went roaring seaward it carried with
it great trees and new steel bridges.
Though that road had been reconstructed,
a new one has been made over the ridges.
The city is built on model lines. It has
a permanent population of over eight
thousand and recently during one year
received sixty thousand visitors.

Good Roads, Schools and Health Work

At the close of the World War there
were not many miles of genuinely good
roads in all the islands put together, al-
though there were indifferent roads and
horse trails. Since then thousands of

miles have been built. These roads open
new lands to homesteaders, who come in
motor trucks as well as in covered carabao
carts ; and homesteaders are highly de-
sirable in a land where only about one-
eighth of the area is cultivated. The
educational system has, within a quarter
century, reached well over a million boys
and girls. Good roads, education and
sanitation have been perhaps the three
outstanding achievements of the American
administration.

As for public health work, that with the
lepers has doubtless been most important
because of the grave character of the
disease. In 1899 there must have been
ten thousand lepers at large on the islands.
The dreadful looking objects were often
stoned to the outskirts of the forests or
to the sand-bars of the sea, where they
■ lived upon such doles of rice and stale
fish as were thrown to them ; but worse,
numbers of them mingled with the throngs
about the market places or whined for
alms at the doors of churches, and their
touch exposed constant recruits to their
hopeless ranks.

Exiles Enjoy Motion Pictures

Then came Dr. \'ictor G. Reiser, Com-
missioner of Public Health, who built for
these lepers a model town on an island,
with even a currency of its own. He then
had photograi^hs made of its houses and
public buildings, sent doctors about the
country to lecture and show these pictures
to prospective j)atients, with the promise
of medical aid and complete freedom to
l)ecome a self-governing community.
\\'hen finally a ship was sent among the
islands to collect its first load of patients
the seamen struck. Dr. Heiser himself
manned the vessel with two helpers and
took them to Culion. To date, more than
two thousand lej^ers have been dismissed
from this colony as completely cured, and
new research laboratories and a lepro-
sarium are under construction at Cebu. In
the meantime, the exiles on Culion live a
surprisingly ordinary life among them-
selves.

They even have motion pictures. When
the pictures are shown in Colony Plaza,

Hill

FLOATING COCONUTS DOWN THE RIVER TO MARKET AT MANILA

Coconuts are an important item in the trade of the Philippines, for they provide copra, oil
and coir fibre. In Luzon Island the unhusked nuts are formed into great rafts and floated
down the river to Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. Like the Chinese, many
Filipinos live all the year around upon the water in covered boats.

UNGAINLY BEAST OF BURDEN THAT FILIPINOS PUT TO MANY USES

The carabao, or water-buffalo, is easily tamed, and though slow, is very strong. It will not
work for more than two hours, however, without a mud bath. The carabao is used as a
draught animal, and the female provides milk from which the Filipinos make a kind of
butter called ghi. The flesh is eaten, and the hide makes good leather.

295

ISLES OF UNREST

every man, woman and child on the is-
land comes in gala dress to wait until the
sky is dark enough for the out-of-door
exhibition. When one of their favorites,
like "Carlocito" (Little Charlie) is shown,
these "untouchables" laugh and applaud,
and demand to see it over and over, till
dawn fades the moving shadows and they
must return to reality. Much health
work achieved for the islands has been
aimed at malaria as well as leprosy.

The educational system of the islands
has developed rapidly. One unique ven-
ture is the School Republic at Munoz,
north of Manila, where boys learn agri-
culture by running their own farms (un-
der instruction), and while there elect
their own officials, have their own police
and run their own bank and store. There
is Silliman Institute where natives show
their command of English by giving
Shakespearean plays. Camp John Hay
has been a civilizing influence. Now, ow-
ing to both education and free trade with

the United States, there has come to be
an enormous increase in wages paid
Philippine labor, and fully a third of the
people are laborers. Indeed, it is esti-
mated that the islands are producing six
times the wealth they did in Spanish days.

Mindanao, according to native legend,
was once inundated so that the moun-
tain-tops were peopled with refugees.
But three terrible monsters were ever on
the alert to catch and devour them. Of
these, Kurita had more legs than an oc-
topus, Tarabusaw was a giant and Pah
was a bird so huge that it laid eggs as
big as houses, and when it spread its
wings, they covered the sun and darkness
fell upon the land. But in time two
heroes, the rajahs Sulayman and Indara-
putra, came forward, and after various
adventures, slew the monsters. These
heroes were the ancestors of the Moros.

The tourist sees the Moro police of
Zamboanga wearing the Mohammedan
red fez and a green sash with the khaki

HATS TO SHADE DARK FACES FROM THE TROPIC SUN

These two Filipino girls are busily employed plaiting hempen fibres into hats. On the
ground before them we can see the block they use to shape the crown, and on each side
of it two nearly finished h;ats that require only binding around the brim. The men wear
a very different type of sun-hat — one with no crown at all.

297

BAMBOO GROVES are found growing with tropical luxuriance on all of the Philippine
Islands, and the strong though slender canes are turned to many uses by resourceful natives.
Here a tribesman of Mindanao, the large southernmost island of the festoon that reaches
from Borneo to Formosa, has built this flimsv hut of the building material at hand.

208 '

UNDtRWOOD a UNDERWOOD

HOUSES ON PILES are common in the Philippines, for the stilts not only raise the frail
native dwellings above high water line but protect them from invasions by wild hogs and
timaraus. The typical village shown above is located on Luzon Island, just outside Manila.
Malaria-bearing mosquitoes breed in the stagnant water and the native death toll is high.

299

Philippine Bureau of Science

WHERE HOUSES ARE BUILT FOR SAFETY ON THE TOPS OF TREES

In western Mindanao, along the Agusan River, dwell the Manobo tribe, who were once all
slave-raiding pagans, though many of them are now Christians and have taken to wearing
European attire. A house built high in the air like this may seem unsafe to us, but in
this wild country a house on the ground would be too easily entered by hostile tribesmen.

uniform, and each is armed with a two-
foot bolo. The town is built along a canal
in a coconut grove, with several plazas
including one named for General Persh-
ing, and streets lined with banana plants.

Cebu is an interesting city by reason
of its mementoes of Magellan. The
Church of St. Augustine contains a
wooden image, black with age, of the
Christ Child said to have been carried on
all his voyages; while near by, a black
twelve-foot cross in a pavilion is vener-

ated by Filipinos as the spot on which he
read his first Mass. Here candles are
kept burning and coins are thrown
through the bars of the gates to pay for
them. For Magellan had made converts,
before his martyrdom, of the rajah of
Cebu and eight hundred of his subjects.
Now as you approach the city over the
blue waters of the archipelago, you see
great radio towers rising above the roof-
tops, and mingling with the motor cars
are clumsy two-wheeled carts drawn by

300

ISLES OF UNREST

carabao, and trains of pack-mules loaded
with huge bags of dried coconut meat.

There are many factories throughout
the islands for making coconut oil, and
during the fat shortage of the World War
this oil came to be prized. In places, as
at Cebu, there are salt-beds along the
shore where sea-water is evaporated till
it becomes white crystals. In 1920 the
first centrifugal sugar-mill was estab-
lished on the island of JMindoro, and
since that date millions of dollars have
been invested in the sugar industry. The
extensive virgin forests are one of the
most important natural resources of the
islands, though the methods of lumber-
ing are primitive. One sees lengths of
giant logs being hauled over the rough
ground by carabao. jNIuch of the bam-
boo is used for paper-making. Hat-

making is a home industry, as is the
weaving of pina, the pineapple tissue of
such delicacy that when threads are
drawn, it looks like lace, and the jusi, a
glossy combination of silk and pineapple
fibre. The abaca (Manila hemp) is the
strongest fibre known and hemp is an im-
portant crop. The Philippines are one of
the leading tobacco-raising countries, and
the best tobacco grows in the Cayagan
\^alley of Luzon on tiny plantations aver-
aging but one acre each, though of these
there are over twenty thousand. The
small island of Basilan has been planted
to Brazilian rubber. As for the cultiva-
tion of rice, occasional mechanical thresh-
ers are seen in the islands; these are
owned by neighborhood groups and
passed from farm to farm as each succes-
sive crop ripens during the harvest season.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS:

THE COUNTRY

The largest island group in the Malay Archi-
pelago; composed of 7,083 islands and islets.
Bounded on the west and north by the China
Sea, east by the Pacific Ocean, south by the
Celebes Sea and the coastal waters of Borneo.
Total land area, about 115,026 square miles.
Luzon, the largest island, has an area of 40,814
square miles. The total population in 1918
was 10,314,310.

GOVERNMENT

Chief executive is the Governor-General,
who represents the sovereign power of the
United States ; cabinet of 6 members, 5 of
whom are Filipinos. Legislative body is made
up of a Senate (24 members) and House of
Representatives (94 members), all elective, ex-
cept 2 senators and 9 representatives appointed
by Governor-General. Council of State with
the Governor-General as president links the
executive and legislative branches of the gov-
ernment. For administrative purposes the
country is divided into 37 regularly organized
provinces and 11 special provinces, each with a
provincial governor as chief executive.

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

Agriculture is the chief industry; principal
products are rice, Manila hemp, coconuts,
sugar-cane, corn, tobacco and maguey. There
are about 39,285,220 acres of commercial
forests furnishing cabinet woods, gums and
resins, vegetable oils, rattan and bamboo, tan
and dye barks. 15,243,000 head of livestock in
1926. Gold is mined in commercial quantities.
Manufacturing confined largely to preparation
of agricultural products for market. Chief
exports: sugar, hemp, coconut oil, copra, to-

FACTS AND FIGURES

bacco products, embroideries and shredded
coconut. Chief imports : cotton goods, iron
and steel manufactures, meat and dairy prod-
ucts, wheat flour and silk goods.

COMMUNICATIONS

Overseas trade carried mainly by British
and American vessels. Total railway mileage
in 1927, 788 ; in 1928 there was 692 miles of
cable, 8,292 miles of telegraph line, 444 tele-
graph offices, including 40 radio stations. Total
length of roads, 7,076 miles.

RELIGION AND EDUCATION

The dominant religion is Roman Catholic ;
many other denominations are represented ;
443,037 Mohammedans in the districts of Min-
danao and Sulu. Education is free, secular
and co-educational; 7,361 public schools with
1,107,589 pupils in 1927. Many private and
special schools including normals, trade
schools, agricultural schools and nursing
schools. University of the Philippines, state-
supported, had 7,533 students in 1927.

CHIEF TOWNS

Present populations : Manila (capital, Luzon
Island), 285,306; Iloilo (Panay Island), 65,248 ;
Cebu (Cebu Island), 83,980; Laoag (Luzon
Island), 40,625; Zamboanga (Mindanao Is-
land), 45,567.

ISLAND OF GUAM

Designated as a United States Naval Station
for the purposes of government and protection.
Situated at the southern extremity of the Ma-
riana Archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, east of
the Philippine Islands. Total area, 210 square
miles; population in 1928, 17,654.

PHILIPPINE DUREAU OF SCIENCE

THIS MANDAYA WARRIOR has long hair dressed like a woman's. He comes from south-
western Mindanao. The brown race of the Philippines is believed to have come from the
south in successive migrations which date from pre-historic times. Occasionally mixed with
Spanish or Chinese, these Malays are divided into twenty-three tribes, varying in culture.

30a

THIS ILONGOT CHILD is more attractive now than she may be a few years hence, for
her people are extremely short. Many have a trace of Negrito blood. They live nomad lives
in the forested mountains around Nueva Viscaya, Luzon, securing game by throwing stones
or shooting arrows, and climbing trees for fruit and nuts. At one time they were head-hunters.

303

.304

Sunshine Isles and Savages

The Untamed Life of the South Seas

One is likely to think that where nature has provided sunshine and delightful
scenery life must be at its best. But the human animal often degenerates in
such surroundings. It is not the absence of any need to struggle for food
and shelter that raises man above the beasts, but rather his need to employ
brain and brawn devising means to subsistence. This law of life would
account for the low state of the civilization of the South Sea Islands — Fiji,
Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga and the Marquesas, Papua and less known ones.

THE Lotus Islands, the Islands of
Delight — by these and other names
the beautiful isles of the South
Seas are widely known. And, certainly,
no such description would seem to be too
extravagant, for many of them are ac-
counted to be among the loveliest spots
on the face of the globe. Strung out
across the Pacific Ocean, close to the
Equator, they enjoy perpetual summer.

Of the principal groups of South Sea
Islands there are two kinds. Some built
up by volcanoes, like Tahiti, have moun-
tains, rivers, waterfalls and grand and
rugged scenery ; others, such as the Pau-
motus, are of coral formation and very
low-lying. While these lack the grandeur
of the larger rocky islands they have a
charm all their own. Mewed from a dis-
tance, only the waving tops of the palm
trees greet the eye ; then, as the vessel
approaches, is seen the outline of the
coral reef which forms the boundaries of
the islet with its enclosed lagoon. Every
traveler to these Eastern Pacific atolls
tries to find a fresh phrase in which to
convey their beauty.

For geographical purposes the South
Sea Islands are classed in three groups :
Polynesia ("many islands"), Melanesia
("black islands'') and Micronesia ("small
islands" ) . In the first named are included
Fiji (north of New Zealand), Tonga,
Samoa, Tahiti, the Paumotus, the Mar-
quesas and Hawaii. (The last named
will be treated in the same volume as the
United States of America.) To the sec-
ond belong New Guinea, or Papua, one of
the two or three largest islands in the
world, and the less civilized islands of
the Bismarck Archipelago — New Britain,

New Ireland and the Admiralty Islands —
the Solomons, the New Hebrides and the
Loyalty Islands. In the third group we
have the Caroline, the Marshall and the
Gilbert Islands. While these names are
useful enough, we may distinguish be-
tween the main groups in a simpler way.

Natives who are styled Polynesians are
good-looking, often even handsome, with
l)rown skins and either smooth or curly
hair. Their Melanesian brothers, to the
westward, are ugly in type, often repul-
sively so ; they are of a darker color and
have frizzy hair. It is to this last-men-
tioned feature that the Papuans owe their
name. The native of New Guinea, the
large island just north of Australia,
boasts a head of hair that resembles a
mop ; the Malays christened him "papu-
wah," which means "frizzled," and the
name has clung to him.

The best known of these islands of the
South Seas are perhaps the two hundred
or more of the Fijis, though only eighty
are inhabited. These of¥ered themselves
to the British government in 1874. They
are among the most beautiful of all the
South Sea Islands. They are further in-
teresting because the Fijians themselves
are of two races ; indeed, they form a link
between the Papuans and the Polynesians.
Physically, they are a fine people, tall and
strongly built. In color their skins are
dark, and they usually have the frizzy
hair of the Papuan, as may be seen by
our picture of a Fijian belle combing her
hair. In the case of children the heads
are generally shaven, with just a few
tufts of hair left growing.

That the islanders in former days were
cannibals and had a reputation for fe-

305

(3J TO J-i

tAi C O

a E ^

13 I I §•

>-j rt (u
(H O (u

^ V) ci
- OJ o ^

«^ r«

o <U o <u

x: ^ i:3

>-( C "1 o

P J3 <u

-5 o

do J2 >^
^ j2 /2 ^

306

YORK a SON

TAPPA AND KAVA are two native names connected with industries peculiar to many of
the islands of the South Seas. "Tappa" is a cloth made from the bark of the paper-mulberry,
and in the upper photograph we see it being beaten out on wooden blocks. "Kava" is a
favorite drink made from the root of a pepper plant which these women arc shredding.

307

SUNSHINE ISLES AND SAVAGES

rocity is only too true. Human sacrifices
were frequent, for the savage mind be-
lieved that when a man was killed and
eaten, such qualities of courage, strength
and cunning as he possessed would pass
into the bodies of those who partook of
his horrid feast. The human flesh thus
eaten was known as "long pig." Many
victims were also slain on notable occa-
sions through superstition. At the launch-
ing of a new war canoe such a sacrifice
was held to bring good luck ; on the death
of a chief a number of slaves would be
killed in order that he might be well
served in the after life.

College for Fiji Islanders

With the coming of the missionaries
these barbarous customs gradually ceased.
From being a bloodthirsty savage the
Fijian has become quite a reformed char-
acter. To-day he is a peaceable, if not
actually gentle chap, with even a leaning
toward foppishness in dress. His chil-
dren attend school dnd many of the young
people of the Fiji Islands go to distant
colleges to be trained as teachers and
clergymen. Nowhere in the South Pacific
has there been such a complete and rapid
change from barbarism to civilization as
in these islands.

Missionary enterprise has, indeed, been
active throughout the South Sea Islands.
Ministers of all creeds have gone fear-
lessly among the wildest tribes to carry
their message ; many of them have suf-
fered death at the hands of the natives.
These workers in the mission field found
that the native religion was based on what
is known as animism ; the people believed
that all things, whether human beings,
beasts, birds, or trees and stones, had
souls which were in some way able to
do them either friendly or unfriendly
services.

Samoan Islands Divided

During the cotton famine that followed
the Civil War, a Hamburg merchant sent
men out to Samoa in the middle of the
Pacific Ocean to start cotton plantations.
But the United States had since 1839 en-
joyed the exclusive right to maintain a

naval base in the fjordlike harbor of Pago
Pago, on the southern coast of Tutuila,
besides which Australia and New Zealand
were pursuing an important trade with
the islands. Great Britain therefore con-
ferred with Germany and the United
States in 1880 and provided a govern-
ment for the Kingdom of Samoa, but in
1889 they decided to divide the islands,
and Tutuila and others fell to the lot of
the United States, while Upolu and finally
Savi'i (which Great Britain did not
want) went to Germany. The League of
Nations assigned to New Zealand the ad-
ministration of German Samoa.

It was a king of these islands, Malie-
toa, who befriended the missionary, John
Williams. It was these gentle natives
among whom Stevenson made his home
and to whom he was Tusitala, ''the story-
teller," and a loved friend.

If we sail across from the Fijis, there
will come a point, when we cross the i8oth
meridian, east longitude, where we will
wake to find it the day before. We won't
mind that, for we will be too eager to
reach a land where we may sit beneath
a palm tree and just watch the white-caps
dancing across the blue sea, while behind
us stretch jungle-clad hills. Tutuila has
been built by volcanic action and lies
ringed about with coral reefs. At low
tide one can see the branches of pink coral
rising above the green of shallow waters.

Grass Mats for House Walls

The natives play and bathe in the surf,
eat the fruits that grow so abundantly and
build their houses by weaving branches
for a roof on four poles, then tie on grass
mats which can be rolled to the ceiling.
The floor is usually raised two feet and
surrounded by a ditch to carry oflf the
rain, then paved with stones and pebbles,
and at night covered with sleeping-mats.
Oranges, bananas, pineapples and bread-
fruit and of course coconuts grow lux-
uriantly. On Swain's Island, which was
annexed in 1925, the natives pay their
taxes usually in copra (dried coconut
meat). The Tutuilans wave the Stars
and Stripes on the Fourth of July, though
the naval officers who are responsible for

Thomas McMahon

CANE FISH-TRAPS IN THE NEW HEBRIDES

On the beach of Tanna Island in the New Hebrides Archipelago, which lies between Fiji
and the east coast of Australia, one may see great fish-traps of basket-work that look like
the lobster pots of our own coasts. Bait is put inside and the trap is left in the sea all
night. In the morning it is hauled up quickly before the fish can escape.

the conduct of the island permit the na-
tive chiefs a show of doing the gov-
erning themselves. The American taste
rather balks at kava, the drink of cere-
mony, for it is made from a root chewed
by the prettiest girls to reduce it to a
pulp, after which water is added and it
becomes a beverage slightly intoxicating
but tasting for all the world like soap-
suds.

Robert Louis Stevenson has made a

certain white villa famous, Vailima,
which now is the official residence of
Western Samoa. From there one climbs
the steep mountain path, part of which
the natives who built it call The Road
of Loving Hearts, to the peak of Vaea
where '*R.L.S." lies buried. One finds
on his tombstone the familiar verses
ending :

"Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill."

309

C. W. COLLINSON

AN ISLAND CHIEF in the Solomons wears with pompous pride a necklace of porpoise, shark
and dog teeth and upon his head a polished disk of tortoise shell.

310

Thomas McMahon

A NURSERY FOR SEEDLINGS OF THE COCONUT PALM

The islands in the Pacific are the best places for the coconut palm, which prefers to grow
near the sea. In cultivating a nursery the nuts are planted in mud, or sand and seaweed,
and watered until a shoot appears. When this shoot has grown to about the size seen above
the nut is transplanted. In about six years the tree begins to bear coconuts.

Tonga, or the Friendly Islands, is a Royal Society which had sent him. Be-

Christian community. The natives are
fine physical specimens, stalwart and
good-looking, with skins of a bright cop-
per brown and fair, curling hair. They
are particularly fond of boxing and
wrestling. About the end of the nine-
teenth century, these Tongans asked to
be placed under British protection.

Of the three groups of Tonga Islands,
one is of coral formation and one is high
and mountainous, and there are active vol-
canoes on Tofua and Kao. A native
queen has succeeded her father. Thanks
to British and missionary efforts, there
is a Tonga College, free dental and medi-
cal service, and at the capital, Nukualofa,
a wireless station and a telephone system.
About one ship in four weeks sails to
New Zealand via Fiji and Samoa.

Eastward of Samoa lie the Society
Islands, so named by their discoverer,
Captain James Cook, in honor of the

tween 1768 and 1779 Cook made voyages
of discovery which, broadly speaking,
brought Polynesia and Micronesia to the
knowledge of traders and explorers. He
finally met his death in the Sandwich Is-
lands, as Hawaii was formerly called.
The principal of the Society Islands is
Tahiti, a French possession, the Otaheite
of the famous explorer. The natives are
tall and robust, dark-skinned, with black
curly hair ; but they are not so fine to-day
as their ancestors, those magnificent men
who greeted Captain Cook on his first
landing. For like so many Pacific people
the Tahitians are decreasing in number,
partly because of the diseases that too
frequently make ravages among them.

Tahiti is a land of natural loveliness,
richly feathered with palms and orange
trees, its mountains covered with the um-
brella fern and dense thickets of guava.
This is "the Pearl of the Pacific," or, as

312

SUNSHINE ISLES AND SAVAGES

a native bard once styled it, "Great
Tahiti the Golden.''

The Tahitian is a light-hearted, laugh-
ter-loving being with a fondness for
dancing and singing. Parties of several
hundred will assemble for ''himenes" or
native singing festivals in which their
voices are really tuneful and pleasing.
The Tahitian also loves to play some
musical instrument. Says one unappre-
ciative writer : *'To see a great fellow, six
feet high, sit down on the sand under the
palms at high noon and go 'twangle,
twangle' on a jew's-harp; to see half-a-
dozen fo'c'sle hands on a small pearling
schooner in a dead calm, sitting by the
cookhouse and drinking strong black tea,
while they make night hideous with long
drawn-out wailings on an old wheezy con-
certina— such things are enough to make
the gravest man crow with laughter."

Papeete, the chief town of Tahiti, is
half French and possesses a good normal
school. At its docks touch the steam-
ships of the monthly service between San

Francisco, Australia and New Zealand,
and from its wharves the Society Islands
export phosphates, copra and mother-of-
pearl. Sailing boats also ply between
Papeete and the various islands of the
French establishments in Oceania.

Besides Tahiti, one must mention
Aloorea, the Paumotu group (which form
two parallel ranges), Tubuai, and Rapa
and the Leeward Islands (lies sous le
Vent). Under the French all of these
have united to form one colony.

The Tahiti Islands (French Oceania)
call to mind the story of a strange ad-
venture. On Captain Cook's second voy-
age he had, as sailing-master of the Res-
olution, an English sailor, William Bligh,
who because of his discovery of bread-
fruit was called "Breadfruit Bligh." He
was later sent to take breadfruit trees
from the South Sea Islands to the West
Indies. The voyage involved a stop-over
of six months at Otaheite which his men
greatly enjoyed. When they set forth,
in April, 1789, in the Bounty, a mutiny

C. W. Collinson

A SOLOMON ISLANDERS WAR-DANCE WITH BARBED SPEARS

War-dances keep the Solomon Islander happy when there is no one to fight. Each man
paces forward and back, feints with his spear and guards with his shield, growling viciously
all the time. The spear heads are made of the barbed and often poisoned bones of large
fish. Under British rule there is now plenty of dancing, but very little real fighting.

313

SUNSHINE ISLES AND SAVAGES

broke out near the Friendly Islands and
Bligh himself, with eighteen of his men,
was set adrift in a launch. Day after day
they tossed in an open boat, drenched by
storms and tortured by hunger and
thirst; but after four thousand miles of
such progress they reached Timor in the
Malay Archipelago. In the meantime the
leader of the mutineers, Fletcher Chris-
tian, returned to Tahiti with twenty-five
men; but the year following headed a
party that included eight Englishmen,
six Polynesian men and twelve native
women and sailed to the sheer black lava
cliffs of Fitcairn Island, then burned the
Bounty.

Mutineers' Haven a Wireless Station

Here, a hundred miles south of the
Paumotu Archipelago, someone found
the survivors in 1800, by this time re-
duced to one white man, Alexander
Smith, called John Adams, who was try-
ing to train the half-breed people to the
best of his ability. Later seamen who
touched on these shores found a tiny
colony of Seventh Day Adventists who
cultivated beans, pumpkins and other
produce and let their goats and chickens
run wild. On its two square miles of
area there is some timber, but no rivers
though rain is abundant. The island had
first been sighted in 1767 by a midship-
man with Philip Carteret, and at that
time was found to be uninhabited, though
stone hatchets were found. This island
has lately been chosen as a good location
for a wireless station.

Still farther westward in the Pacific
are found the Paumotus, the Pillar or
Cloud Islands of early voyagers, the
Drowned Archipelago of Captain Cook,
variously called the Low Archipelago and
the Dangerous Isles. Some eighty in
number, these atolls, or coral islands, are
not the least beautiful of natural phe-
nomena in the southern ocean. The is-
lands are low-lying, as has been said;
the highest of them rises scarcely more
than thirty feet above high water mark;
but for quiet charm they are without a
parallel. Some are circular in form,
others are oval or of a horseshoe shape,

but all boast the same feature: the blue
lagoon encircled by a coral reef edged
with tall palms. Indeed, the Paumotu
atolls are a romance of Nature. They
have slowly been built up by generations
of coral polyps on the summits of sub-
marine mountains.

Lone Traders in Atolls

Not all the Paumotus are inhabited. On
more than half of them there is no life
save that of sea birds and land crabs.
I^pon the larger islets a fairly deep soil
has formed, and here the breadfruit tree,
the coconut palm and the pandanus, to-
gether with the banana, flourish. From
the dried coconut meat (copra) coconut
oil is obtained. On many an atoll is to
be found a lone white trader who em-
ploys scores of Paumotuans in collecting
the nuts from the palm trees and chop-
ping them open to dry.

It is the coconut palm which the robber
land crab seeks out for his depredations.
This native of the atoll is a monster crab,
as much as two feet long. Its strength
is remarkable, and it will bite off eight or
ten nuts at each ascent of a palm. How
the Paumotuan outwits this enemy is
ingenious. When a native finds that a
crab has made its way up a palm, he pre-
pares a kind of wreath or girdle of clay
and leaves or grass. With this he climbs
some distance up the tree and plasters it
firmly around the trunk. The crab comes
down the tree backward, and when he
feels the clay below him he takes it to be
the solid earth. As a result he loosens
his hold of the tree and falls to the
ground below, where, if he be not already
done for, he is quickly pounded to death,
with a club.

Dive for Mother-of-pearl

For all that these South Sea atolls are
so beautiful, the Paumotuan has a monot-
onous time of it upon his white coral
beaches. His chief and often sole oc-
cupations are the collecting of copra and
diving for pearl oysters. The latter, if
they do not yield real pearls, provide the
mother-of-pearl that is so valuable in com-
merce. The islanders are expert divers,

SUNSHINE ISLES AND SAVAGES

scorn diving-suits and fearlessly descend
into the clear, shark-haunted waters.

By nature the Paumotuan is quiet and
serious-minded, very unlike the joyous-
hearted Tahitian. This is the result of
his surroundings. First, his range of
food is small : the usual diet is coconuts
and fish. Every lagoon is stocked with
fish beyond number. In addition, at cer-
tain seasons, there is the fear of the cy-
clones which sometimes rage through
this part of the ocean. Whole populations
of islands have been wiped out at times
by these awesome visitations and their
houses and other possessions completely
destroyed.

The Marquesas Islands are a Poly-
nesian group which belongs to France,
the largest of which is Nukahiva. Here
the tropical trees and blossoming shrubs
perfume the air. A plant peculiar to the
Marquesas is the cassi, a bush bearing

yellow flowers. This sweet-smelling
shrub blooms every month of the year,
and the fragrance of its pollen, which is
blown far out to sea, can be smelled long
before land is touched.

In 1842 France assumed a protectorate
over the Marquesas, and in 1853 annexed
the New Caledonia Islands with the idea
of establishing a penal settlement.

It was in these islands that tattooing —
an art practiced widely throughout the
Pacific — reached its artistic height. The
Marquesan has always been a splendid
type of physical fitness. In times past
he was among the most warlike of the
islanders, even addicted to cannibalism,
but to-day he lives peaceably with his
neighbors. As a warrior he delighted to
tattoo his body from head to toe, and no-
where else were such elaborate patterns
devised.

The chief professors of the art, the

Underwood & Underwood

SEA-PLANE AND FLYING BOAT ASTONISH A PAPUAN VILLAGE

Papua is the east or British portion of the great island of New Guinea, just north of
Australia. Many of the villages are built on piles over lagoons. One day an exploring
party visited the coast in an aeroplane with a motion picture camera. The natives were
at first terrified, but curiosity soon mastered their fear, as is evident above.

315

W. N. Beaver

CAT'S CRADLE IS ONE OF THE OLDEST GAMES IN THE WORLD

Anthropologists have found that children play cat's cradle in almost every country in the
world, by no means excepting the South Sea Islands, Africa and Australia. This Kiwai
lad lives beside the Fly River in New Guinea among some of the wildest savages in the
world; but he knows several intricate forms of the game.

"tiihukas," belonged to a guild of a most
exclusive kind and ranked next to the
chiefs. At festivals an assembly used to
be held that was much in the nature of a
country fair. People came in from great
distances to feast and make merry, and
be tattooed, or to have repairs done
to their previously decorated skins.
Often the full adornment of a man was
not complete until his thirtieth year.

Under French rule, however, tattooing
has been stopped.

In the Marquesas Islands the "ta])u''
convention has ever been strong. A
tapu (from which we get our word
"taboo") is a prohibition. For reasons
often of mysterious origin, it was tapu
for a woman to enter a canoe, to wear red
or dark blue, to smoke inside a house or
to carry a mat upon the head, and so on.

316

THIS FIJI GIRL ENJOYS THE LUXURY OF A FINE MIRROR

Fiji Islanders have extraordinarily curly hair and it takes a great deal of combing. The
combs used are made of wood and the teeth have to be six inches long. The girl in the
photograph was taken on a trip to England, but when she returned she sensibly preferred to
keep to her native way of dressing, which is best suited to the hot climate.

317

SUNSHINE ISLES AND SAVAGES

Women might not eat in men's company.
Certain animals and fish were tapu — that
is, no one was allowed to kill and eat
them. As a rule tapus were regarded as
sacred, and few people were foolhardy
enough to risk breaking one. In the case
of the canoe tapu, this was ultimately set
at defiance by some daring women, and
the prohibition, once broken, was never
put in force again. Similarly these brown-
skinned suffragettes obtained the free-
dom to eat bananas and pork, neither of
which had Marquesan women tasted for
the past thousand years.

In that quarter of the Pacific known
as Melanesia, where the natives are
darker in hue and less civiHzed by con-
tact with the white races, the two island
groups of most consequence are New
Guinea and the Solomons. New Guinea
is a vast island, one of the several largest
on the globe, a half of which belongs to
the Dutch East Indies, treated in another
article. By an agreement between Ger-
many and England in 1884 these two

countries divided the other half of New
Guinea, and Australia administers Brit'
ish New Guinea (Papua), as well as the
late German New Guinea which it seized
in 1914.

Papua is the southeastern part of New
Guinea. Here the tribes dwelling in the
large settled areas have been induced by
the missionaries to settle down and live
peaceably with one another, and white
planters raise coconuts, rubber and sisal
hemp. A regulation strictly enforced
obliges native land-holders to plant coco-
nuts or other economically useful trees
if the soil permits, and communal plan-
tations have been established under Eu-
ropean agricultural teachers. Native
children are also obliged to attend schools
where English is taught. Moreover, a
government anthropologist is employed
and a family bonus is paid to native
mothers of four or more children under
sixteen. Gold and copper-mining are
important industries, and indications of
oil have been found over a large area.

STEAMER IN HARBOR AT PAPEETE, TAHITI'S PORT OF ARRIVAL

The fourteen Society Islands are the most westerly of the French settlements in the South
Seas. Of these, Tahiti, in the Windward (eastern) group, is the largest. Its chief town, the
seaport of Papeete, is the seat of the administration of the French colony.

318

SUNSHINE ISLES AND SAVAGES

Horses and cattle are among the exports
loaded every month on the steamer from
Port Moresby to Sydney. The natives
raise yams and taro for their own use
and build long houses, sometimes on
piles, especially along the coast, with often
a community-house where gatherings are
held and guests accommodated.

In remote portions of the mandated
territory of northeastern New Guinea,
cannibalism has not been entirely wiped
out and blood feuds are sometimes car-
ried on for generations. The high ranges
of the interior are very little known, for
the coastline presents few good harbors,
the climate is hot and the rainfall exces-
sive. Native children are recruited for the
plantations. The missionaries and traders
hope to civilize these people in time.

The British High Commissioner of the
Western Pacific has jurisdiction over a
number of islands, including the Southern
Solomons and the small groups in Alel-
anesia, Pitcairn Island (before descril^ed)
and the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony

( with headquarters at Ocean Island), im-
portant because of its phosphates, which
have been worked by a British company
since 1921. The Gilbert and Ellice Is-
lands Colony includes Christmas Island,
discovered by Captain Cook in 1777,
(with headquarters at Ocean Island), im-
the largest atoll in the Pacific. It has a
circumference of a hundred miles. Its
population, however, like that of many
of the bewildering number of South Sea
Islands, consists of several white men and
enough natives to work the coconut
plantations.

The British Solomon Islands, a pro-
tectorate which covers a considerable
area, includes Guadalcanar, Malaita, Ysa-
bel, San Cristoval, New Georgia, Choi-
seul, Shortland, Mono (or Treasury),
Vella Lavella, Ronongo, Gizo, Rendova,
Russell, Florida, Ronnell and other in-
dividual islands, besides the Lord Howe
Grou]) or Ontong Java, the Santa Cruz
Islands. Tucopia and Mitre Islands and
the Duff or Wilson group. While rub-

TURTLES FOR THE TABLE OUTSIDE A

Sir Basil Thomson

FIJIAN GRASS HOUSE

Great turtles swim in the seas around the islands of Fiji and come up on to the beaches to
lay their eggs. Turtle meat is a favorite dish with the islanders. The best portions are the
greenish jelly from the back and the yellowash-white flesh from the stomach.

319

SUNSHINE ISLES AND SAVAGES

ber grows well on many of the islands
and the natives also collect ivory nuts,
the seeds of certain palms which are so
hard that buttons can be made of them,
it is copra which provides them with the
goods they cannot produce themselves.

The Solomon Islanders have had an
unenviable reputation for fierceness.
Sometimes meetings are held at which
the tribesmen writhe and yell in chorus,
with rattles on their spears. None the
less, traders and missionaries have now
obtained a firm footing there. While, like
the Papuans, they wear little clothing, the
Solomon natives are fond of ornaments.
A chief, for instance, may wear a neck-
lace composed of the teeth of sharks and
dogs, earrings, bracelets and anklets, while
with women tattooing is the height of
fashion. Another characteristic of these
islanders is their love of dancing.

As becomes a warlike people, the canoes
of the Solomons are a special pride, their
beautifully decorated sides and prows
making them distinctive. In the island
of Malay ta the war canoe is sometimes
more than an object of beauty and curi-
osity, for here live the wildest natives of
this group. They are still cannibals.

The peoples of the New Hebrides, New
Britain, New Ireland and the Loyalty,
Marshall and Gilbert Islands are less
friendly to strangers than are the Poly-

nesians. They are also more forbid-
dingly ugly in appearance, and their cus-
toms are generally debased in character.
Pigs are the common currency, by which
even a wife may be purchased. Since the
end of the nineteenth century the New
Hebrides have been divided between Brit-
ish and French rule. The larger of this
group are Espiritu Santo, Malekula, Epi,
Ambryon, Efate or Sandwich, Erro-
manga, Tanna and Aneityum. There
are active volcanoes on Tanna, Ambryon
and Lopevi, and earthquake shocks are
such an everyday occurrence that no one
pays the slightest attention to them. There
are not enough natives on all these islands
put together to make one good-sized town
and, despite missionary efforts, canni-
balism is still practiced in several of the
islands — Malekula, Santo and Pentecost.
The port of Vila, however, sees over a
hundred vessels a year enter, for there
are several active French and British
trading companies.

Nauru, twenty-six miles south of the
Equator, finally, is a circular atoll sur-
rounded by a reef of such forbidding
character that there is no anchorage along
its coast. But the plateau that rises in-
land is rich with a high-grade phosphate
worked by one big company which em-
ploys both natives and Chinese, and since
1913 there has been a wireless station.

SUNSHINE ISLANDS:

GREAT BRITAIN
Fiji Islands

A group of 250 islands in Melanesia (about
80 inhabited). Total area, 7,083 square miles;
1927 estimated population, 173,836. Area of
Viti Levu (the largest island) is 4,053 square
miles. British colony; administered by Gov-
ernor who is also High Commissioner of the
Western Pacific ; Executive Council of 8 mem-
bers ; Legislative Council of 21 members with
Governor as president. Chief exports : sugar,
copra, bananas, trochas shell, molasses; chief
imports : textiles, flour, machinery, hardware
and oils. 4 wireless stations. Government and
mission schools. Population of Suva, the
capital, 1,741.

Tonga (Friendly) Islands

Three groups of islands in Polynesia ; ap-
proximate total area, 385 ; 1926 estimated
population, 27,048. British protectorate since
1900; Queen and Legislative Assembly of 23

FACTS AND FIGURES

members ; financial administration supervised
by British Agent and Consul. Cbicf product
and export is copra; imports are drapery, flour
and other foodstuffs. Natives are Christian ;
free public education. Capital, Nukualofa.

Gilbert and Ellicc Islands Colony

Several groups of islands in Polynesia and
Micronesia, formerly British protectorates.
Annexed as a colony in 1915; administered
by High Commissioner of the \\'estern Pacific
through a Resident Commissioner with head-
quarters on Ocean Island. Population of
colony in 1921, 29,897. The most important
islands are: Ellice Islands: area. 14 square
miles; population, 3.582; Gilbert Islands: area.
166 square miles; population in T026, 23.410;
Ocean Islands: 1926 population. 2.876; Fan-
ning Island, Washington Island and Christmas
Island (leased to an agricultural company)
Chief exports: phosphate (found on Ocean
Island) and copra. Public education.

SUNSHINE ISLES AND SAVAGES

British Solomon Islands

Large group of islands in Melanesia under
British protection; area, ii,ooo square miles;
population, 150,583. Resident Commissioner
with headquarters at Tulagi, assisted by
nominated Advisory Council. Chief exports :
copra, trochas shell, ivory nuts, timber. Edu-
cation by missions. (For German Solomon
Islands see under Mandated Territory.)

Small unattached islands under the jurisdic-
tion of the High Commissioner of the Western
Pacific are Ducie, Pitcairn, Phoenix group,
Starbuck, Maiden, Jarvis and Palmyra in
Polynesia and Baker Islands in Micronesia.

Nezv Hebrides Group

Located in Melanesia about 500 miles west
of Fiji; estimated area, 5,700; population about
60,000. Jointly administered by English and
French officials; French and British Resident
Commissioners. 44,185 acres under cultivation.
Exports : copra, cofifee, cocoa, cotton, trochas,
corn ; imports : foodstuffs, clothing, metal-
work and furniture. Regular steamship com-
munication. Mission schools.

AUSTRALIA

Papua (British New Guinea)

Consists of southeastern part of island of
New Guinea, the island of d'Entrecasteaux.
the Louisiade group and small outlying
islands. Total area, 90,540 square miles (87,-
786 on the mainland) ; the native population in
1928 was estimated at 275,000. Administered
by Lieutenant Governor and executive council
of 9 members ; executive council with 5 ad-
ditional members compose the legislative coun-
cil. Agriculture and mining important; 61.370
acres of plantations in 1928. Chief exports :
copra, gold, osmiridium, rubber; chief im-
ports : foodstuffs, tobacco, textiles and hard-
ware. Regular steamship service; 4 wireless
telegraph stations. Education by missions,
government-aided. Chief ports : Port Moresby,
Samarai.

NEW ZEALAND
Cook Islands

A group of islands in Polynesia; the most
important are Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Mangaia

MANDATED TERRITORY IN THE

The former German territory north of the
Equator is now administered by Japan as
mandatory (Vol. 4). Mandates for the former
German territory south of the Equator are
held by Australia, New Zealand and Great
Britain.

AUSTRALIA

Administers under a League of Nations
Mandate dated Dec. 17, 1920, the territory in
Melanesia of Northeast New Guinea, Bis-
marck Archipelago (New Britain, New Ire-
land and Admiralty Islands) and the Solomon
Islands. The total area is more than 84,000
square miles and the population in 1927 more
than 375,000. Exports : copra, shell, cocoa ; im-
ports : groceries, machinery, textiles and to-
bacco. Chief towns, Rabaul, capital (New

and Savage. Total area, about 280 square
miles; 1926 population, 13,877. Administered
by member of Executive Council of New Zea-
land. Exports: copra and fruits, hats and
fancy baskets.

Union Islands (Tokclau)

Comprise 5 clusters of islets in Polynesia
with a total area of 7 square miles : 1926 esti-
mated population, 1,033.

FRANCE
New Caledonia

French colony in Melanesia ; area, 8,548
square miles; population in 1921, 47,505. Agri-
culture and mining important. 225,000 head
of livestock. Mineral exports: chrome ore,
nickel, phosphates ; other exports : coffee,
copra, cotton, guano and preserved meat ; im-
ports : wine, coal, flour and rice. Regular
steamship communication. Telegraph line
mileage, 921 ; telephone, 707. Government and
mission schools. The capital, Noumea, has a
population of 9,336. Dependencies are : Isle
of Pines, Wallis Archipelago ; Loyalty Islands,
Huon Islands, Futuna and Alofi.

New Hebrides Group (see under Great Britain)

French Establishments in Oceania

A group of islands administered by a Gov-
ernor with an Administrative Council. They
are : Society Islands, Marquesas Islands,
Paumotu group, Leeward Islands, Gambier,
Tubuai and Rapa ; the most important island
is Tahiti (Society Islands). Exports: copra,
mother-of-pearl, vanilla, coconuts and phos-
phates. Regular steamship service. The chief
town, Papeete (Tahiti) has a population of
4,601, about half French.

UNITED STATES
American Samoa

Includes the islands of western Samoa ; area.
60 square miles ; 1926 population, 8,763. U. S.
naval station at Pago Pago ; Commandant is
also Governor ; native officials. Only export is
copra. Government and mission schools with
enrolment of 4,308 pupils.

PACIFIC: FACTS AND FIGURES

Britain), Madang, Morohe, Aitape (New
Guinea), and Kauieng (New Ireland).

NEIV ZEALAND

Administers under a League of Nations
Mandate dated Dec. 17, 1920, the former Ger-
man Samoan Islands, including Savaii and
Upolu ; area, over 1,200 square miles; popula-
tion of 42,865 in 1927. Legislative (Touncil,
presided over by Administrator and advisory
native council. Exports : copra and cacao.

BRITISH EMPIRE

Administers the island of Nauru under a
mandate of Dec. 17, 1920. Administrator is
pDpointed by Great Britain, Australia and New
Zealand and has administrative, legislative and
judicial powers. Valuable phosphate deposits.

321

The Island Continent

In the Bush and Cities of Australia

Australia, the island continent, is larger than the United States, though
smaller than Canada. Yet its population is less than that of New York or
London, and four-fifths are concentrated in a belt of country perhaps a hun-
dred miles in width along the eastern, southern and southwestern coasts, while
a good half of the country is so arid and its "bush" so impenetrable that it
numbers less than ten thousand people. There are rich natural resources — the
forests and agricultural lands occurring in limited areas — though sheep and
cattle forage over thousands of miles. There is also wealth in coal and gold
mines. Though the coast is but little indented, the harbor at Sydney is one
of the finest and most important in the British Empire. The exploration of
this strange Southland and the settlement of the states of which the Common-
wealth was formed, the work of the great sheep ranches and the native wild
life, together with the progressive cities, will be the subject of this chapter.
The aborigines are treated in the one on Australia's Magic-makers.

WHEN the first European explorers
reported a continent nearly twelve
thousand miles away, where
Christmas comes in midsummer, ferns
grow as tall as trees and huge hopping
animals carry their young about with
them in furry pouches, people would not
believe it. The stui:>endousness of every-
thing Australian and the rapidity of its
recent progress is equally amazing. In
the early days one reached it only after
months of sailing around Cape Horn or
the Cape of Good Hope, and the only
inhabitants were a few low-grade abo-
riginals. To-day fast steamers take but
three weeks from \^ancouver or San
Francisco, an air mail service links up
the remotest corners of the lonely island,
and vSydney has become one of the im-
portant ports of the British Empire. Yet
there are but a little over six million
people to an area just under three million
square miles, and half of these live in the
cities along the eastern and southern
coasts. There are vast areas still un-
explored and Northern Territory con-
tains but four persons to every five hun-
dred square miles. The yellow races have
not been permitted to secure a foothold:
it is a white man's country of an extremely
prosperous and democratic character.

This dry, kidney-shaped island con-
tinent is geologically probably the oldest
portion of the earth, cut adrift from the
Asiatic mainland in prehistoric times.
Its shoreline is remarkably regular and

its harbors are few. Great Barrier Reef
off the northern portion of its east coast,
perhaps the greatest coral reef in the
world, makes a lane of quiet waters where
pink, red and white walls of coral rise
between the green inland passage and the
abruptly deep blue of the Pacific. Nor are
there any islands belonging geographically
to this vast land mass, save Tasmania
alone, close offshore on the southeast.
There are no mountains of consequence
except the ranges of the Blue Mountains
(but two thousand feet high for the most
part) which rise between the eastern
coastal lowlands and the interior plateau.
There is but one river system of conse-
quence, that of the IMurray and Darling
rivers, which waters a belt 150 miles back
from the east coast. On vast areas farm-
ing is impossible for lack of rainfall, ex-
cept as the extensive artesian wells, chiefly
in the eastern portion, are made to provide
for irrigation. But Australia is the great-
est sheep country in the world, and it has
yielded nearly every known mineral, from
gold to coal.

In this Southland beneath the Southern
Cross, there are plants and animals found
nowhere else. The tree ferns are sur-
vivals of the era before the Coal Age and
there is a drought-defying tree with a
trunk which expands like a bottle before
giving forth its branches. There are
thousands of miles of almost impenetrable
"bush" largely composed of varieties of
eucalyptus — a tree that sheds its bark in-

323

THE ISLAND CONTINENT

It is not certainly known
whether it was the French,
Dutch or Portuguese who first
saw Austraha. In 1606 Luys
Vaez de Torres, commander
of one of the ships in a Span-
ish squadron, became separated
from the others and with his
vessel passed through the strait
at the northern tip of the con-
tinent which now bears his
name ; but he found nothing
along the north coast to tempt
him farther inland. In 1627
Carpenter, who was in the
Dutch service, investigated
SURVIVAL OF A BY-GONE AGE what we know as the Gulf of

The duck-billed platypus, which is found in Australia and Carpentaria. But though the
nowhere else in the world, is surely the most grotesque of Dutch called the land New
^^¥^''u-^S^' ^ mammal yet lays eggs and has web feet Holland, they did no coloniz-
and a bill like a duck s. It lives in burrows near streams. • ■ r . ^.u ^ y

nig. then in 1042 the Dutch

stead of its pendant gray-green leaves —
and there are jar rah and karri trees
with wood hard enough for paving
blocks. One finds the emu, a wingless
bird nearly as large as an ostrich, and the
platypus, a duck-billed mammal that lays
eggs and carries its young in a pouch. The
explorers used to hear a bird, the kookoo-
burra, which they named the ''laughing
jackass" because its almost human laugh-
ter seemed to mock at them from the
woods. There are also bearded lizards
and nine-foot pythons, to say nothing of
wood-devouring ants from which people
protect their houses by building them on
metal piles. There are mound-making
turkeys in the treeless regions and little
ant-eaters with bushy tails.

The kangaroo and other marsupials or
pouch-bearing mammals are typical of
Australia and comprise two-thirds of its
fauna. These range from the large, swift-
jumping kangaroo of the plains, which
fights with a vicious kick, and the smaller
walla1)y with its gentle big eyes, to the
tiny hare-wallaby and the tree-kangaroo,
and a small pouch-bearing muskrat. The
thick-furred gray sloth known as the Aus-
tralian bear or wombat, the rabbit-like
bandicoot of South Australia and the
badger, known from its ugly disposition
as the Tasmanian Devil, are also found.

explorer Abel Janz Tasman found the
western coast of what we know as Tas-
mania and named it \^an Diemen's Land
in honor of the governor of the Dutch
East Indies whom he served. The first
Englishman to set foot on Australian soil
was William Dampier who landed on the
arid west coast in 1688.

Finally that famous explorer. Captain
James Cook, was sent by King George
III to find new lands in the South Pacific,
and, in 1770, found anchorage for the
Endeavor, north of where Sydney now
stands, and because of the strange plants
he found called it Botany Bay. After-
ward he nearly lost his ship on the Great
Barrier Reef, but finally learned that the
land mass was sej^arate from New Guinea
and gave it the name of X'ew South Wales.
This discovery came at a time when Eng-
land was transporting her law-breakers to
other lands, and at the suggestion of Lord
Sydney she sent Captain Phillip in 1786
with a colony of seven hundred people,
some of whom had done no more than
poach a rabbit or leave a debt unpaid —
though some had been more radical — to
the great natural harbor down the eastern
coast which we know as Sydney. These
first colonists brought not only the means
to cultivate the soil, but seed-wheat, cows
and horses. The date of their landing,

324

THE ISLAND CONTINENT

January 28, 1788, is celebrated as the
birthday uf AustraHa. In 1791 Van-
couver took possession of the country
around King George Sound and by 1793
free immigrants began to leave the Brit-
ish Isles for this new country. The ex-
plorer Matthew Flinders in 1803 named
the continent Australia.

During the next half century various
others made explorations. Between 1818
and 1829 Captain Sturt pushed through
the passes to see if there was a great in-
land sea, but found it desert. It was
now thought that the interior might all
be stony desert : not till after 1845 did
anyone penetrate to the heart of the con-
tinent. Leichhardt, who had crossed from
New South Wales to northern Australia,
disappeared in 1847. John M'Douall
Stuart traversed the continent
from south to north, starting
from Adelaide in i860 with
pack-horses. After passing
Lakes Torrens and Eyre he
crossed the IMacDonnell range
and reached Central Mount
Stuart. He found land well
worth pastoral development.
In 1862 Stuart succeeded in
traversing the bush and sand-
stone tableland to the Indian

Ocean along a route that is now occupied
by the telegraph connecting Adelaide with
London. In the meantime Burke and
Wills, after having crossed the eastern
end of the continent, got as far as the
Gulf of Carpentaria. Finally, in 1868-76,
Forrest and Giles, running telegraph
lines respectively from the west and
from the north, very nearly ran into
each other, so that a generation later it
was possible to join the gold fields of
Coolgardie in the south with those of
Kimberley in the north. Other names
that might be mentioned include Gosse
and Warburton, Barclay, Gregory, Mau-
rice and Murray.

When the news reached England that
Australia contained great tracts of fertile
land, numbers of ex-soldiers and some of

Australian Govt.

DIGNIFIED EMUS AND GROTESQUE KANGAROOS

Like the platypus, the emu and the kangaroo are found
only in Australia. The emu, almost as large as the ostrich,
cannot fly. Of kangaroos there are many varieties. The
largest are red and measure nine feet from tip to tip.

325

those thrown out of employ-
ment by the introduction of
machinery sought better luck
in Australia. The two main
factors in later settlement were
sheep, which it was found as
early as 1803 would flourish
on the grasslands, and the dis-
covery of gold in 1 85 1. Later
coal and tin were found, as
well as pearl oyster beds, and
large tracts suitable for grow-
ing sugar. The sale of wool
brought prosperity and created
a need for warehouses and
harbors for the ships that
came for the wool. Thus many
of the coast cities sprang into
being.

Gold was first discovered by
E. Hargraves, who had gone

THE ISLAND CONTINENT

to the mines in California in 1849.
made his find at Summerhill Creek about
twenty miles north of Bathurst in Feb-
ruary of that year; and it precipitated
such a gold rush as has seldom been
equaled. Many people died of thirst
and hunger on their way to the gold
fields, others found enough *'pay dirt"
in the gravel of stream beds and moun-
tain slopes to make their fortunes. Prices
rose and conditions were much as they
are anywhere during a boom. Then
in August gold was found at Anderson's
Creek, near Melbourne, by a shepherd
who picked up a lump of the soft yellow
metal while herding his flock. Later that
same month the great Ballarat gold field,
perhaps seventy-five miles from Mel-
bourne, was discovered, and brought
people from Europe, North America,
New Zealand and China. At Ballarat
one nugget was picked up which meas-
ured eighteen inches long and weighed
over a hundred pounds. Next the world
gasped at the ''Welcome Nugget," which
actually weighed over a hundred and
eighty-four pounds. Valuable mines were
also located at Bendigo. Within a dec-
ade a total of $500,000,000 worth of gold
had been found, Melbourne had become
an important city and Victoria had grown
to a flourishing state. Gold attracted im-
migrants to Western Australia between
1891 and 1901.

Chinese Exclusion Laws

From the first the white miners ob-
jected to the presence of the Chinese at
the "diggings," and various states as they
were formed made laws tending toward
Chinese exclusion. It was, indeed, this
mutual interest which got them together
in 1888 in a gathering which proved an
important step in federation.

Now New South Wales, the mother
colony, had become a British possession
in 1788, by 1843 it had a Legislative
Council and in 1856 responsible govern-
ment. But first its extreme southern por-
tion (the population of which doubled
within a year of the discovery of gold)
became a separate colony, Victoria, in
185 1, and had responsible government by

1855. Then in 1859 the northern por-
tion of the mother colony separated and
as Queensland had government conferred
upon it. This daughter colony is a very
great deal larger than New South Wales,
for it reaches from south of Brisbane
clear around to midway of the coast of
the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Development of the States

South Australia, on the Great-Austra-
lian Bight, with a deep gulf just west of
Adelaide, dates from 1836, when a joint
stock company initiated the Wakefield
colony. It too had a Legislative Council
by 1 85 1. Western Australia, on the
Indian Ocean, has been British since
1 79 1 when Vancouver planted the flag on
King George Sound. As early as 1826
New South Wales had sent soldiers and
others to found Frederickstown, the year
following Captain James Stirling sur-
veyed the coast as far as Swan River and
in 1829 founded the Swan River Settle-
ment and the towns of Perth and Fre-
mantle, the latter named for Captain
Fremantle who had taken possession of
this territory for the British Crown.
Large grants were made to settlers, but
there were so few people in this vast
wilderness that in 1850 they asked that
a penal settlement be located there, and
convicts were sent them until 1868. These
men, some merely unfortunate or athirst
for excitement, were many of them
roused by pioneer conditions into becom-
ing valuable citizens. In 1870 Western
Australia initiated a partly representative
government. The island of Tasmania was
a dependency of New South Wales from
1803 until 1825, and by 185 1 had its own
Legislative Council, while by 1856 re-
sponsible government came into opera-
tion. Northern Territory, originally part
of New South Wales, was annexed by
South Australia in 1863, but in 191 1
passed under the direct control of the
Commonwealth and in 1927 divided into
North and Central Australia.

Sounds Like a Fairy Tale

From start to finish, the states (of
which there were five by i860) with re-

THE ISLAND CONTINENT

sponsible governments have assisted hun-
dreds of thousands of immigrants to ac-
quire land. Queensland, which reaches
northward almost to the equator, owes its
origin in part to fabulous Mount Morgan,
where a farmer sold fourteen prospectors
some land at $5 an acre which eventually
yielded $125,000,000. Then copper was
found at Charters Towers, and Mt. Le-
viathan was discovered to be a hill of iron.
Tin, silver, sapphires and opals add to the
richness of Queensland, and it is possible
to raise cotton and tobacco, pineapples and
bananas. But this state specializes in
growing sugar. It produces enough to
supply the entire continent. At one time
cheap labor was imported from the South
Sea Islands, but was afterward shipped
back, and the plantations are worked by

white labor. The government buys the
entire crop, which is refined at Sydney
and Melbourne.

Southern Queensland contains the fer-
tile Darling Downs where one finds or-
chards and vineyards, timber, wheat fields
— on some of which two crops a year
may be grown — and pastures which yield
seven or eight crops. Western Queens-
land is so dry that one region is called
the Never-Never Land because it prac-
tically never rains, as the mountains cut
off the moisture from the Pacific. It is
told of one little girl that when she saw
her first rain, she cried, thinking some-
thing terrible was about to happen. For-
tunately there are artesian waters in
Queensland and in patches elsewhere.
Though the water that gushes from these

(D E. N. A.

CORAL GROWTHS THAT HAVE BUILT THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

Stretching for well over a thousand miles off the east coast of Australia, the Great Barrier
Reef acts as a stout breakwater against the storms of the South Pacific. It has been raised
from the ocean bed in the course of thousands of years by the continuous growth of such
fantastic masses of coral as we see in this photograph of the Skull Reef.

327

328

330

PREPARING TO SHIFT CAMP ON AN AUSTRALIAN SHEEP FARM

The horses have been loaded with the bedding, food and dishes, and their masters, whose
job it is to look after the sheep fences and repair the damaged sections, are ready for
another day's work. Many of the sheep-runs are so large that the men thus employed
have to travel on horseback with their camp outfits for days at a time.

GRADING APPLES IN A SUNLIT ORCHARD IN TASMANIA

The soil and climate of Tasmania are suitable for fruit-growing, and a large quantity is
grown in its sunny, well watered orchards. Its apples, in particular, are excellent, and are
grown for export. Before being packed, they must be sorted according to size, which is
done accurately and expeditiously by the ingenious machine displayed above.

331

THE ISLAND CONTINENT

underground reservoirs is often hot and
sometimes tainted with salt or soda, the
stock drink it and dry-farms can be ir-
rigated with water from this source. It
is farther west that the big droughts do
most harm.

New South Wales has coal, and New-
castle dates from its discovery in 1796.
This is the state that has attracted the
most capital, thanks in part to its wool,
wheat, meat and coal ; and it decided that
after 1853 it would receive no more law-
breakers. We shall deal presently with
Sydney and other cities of Australia.

Tasmania, which received none but
free immigrants after 1853, is well
watered and has woods and trout streams
and a chain of inland lakes. Co-operative
fruit and dairy farming and the vast tin
mine on Mount Bischofif, which was
opened in 1872, together with the wealth
of gold, copper and silver of Mount Lyell,
discovered in 1881, account in large part
for the settlement of this "Apple Isle,"
as it is called.

South and Western Australia

South Australia has orchards and vine-
yards as well as the Mallee Desert, a bush
of scrub eucalyptus beyond the Murray
River. A few districts were settled by
German farmers. In Western Australia,
where a settler's nearest neighbor may live
twelve miles away, much of the land is
dry, with limestone caves beneath ; and
water is piped to the gold mines by a huge
pipe-line that starts near Perth, away
down the west coast where there is a
limited area of farmlands and jarrah
forests.

We have seen the separate colonies,
with their differing character, but with a
homogeneous population and similar po-
litical institutions, secure self-government.
They differed as to the tariff question and
in their attitude toward immigrants, but
all desired permanent settlers who should
reside on the land they owned. Feeling
that strength would grow of union and
after various discussions and considerable
compromise, due to the natural jealousy
of the states, the Commonwealth was
formed in 190T of the six original states

and Northern Territory. As in the United
States of America, the central govern-
ment has definite and limited powers and
the states take care of the rest. There is
a Federal Parliament composed of the
sovereign of Great IJritain — represented
by a Governor-General, a Senate and a
House of Representatives. For the capi-
tal a federal site was later chosen about
midway between Sydney and Melbourne.
Here, at Canberra, a beautiful city was
planned in the midst of a great waste.
Until its completion in 1927, Melbourne
was the capital.

The Australian ''Bush*'

The towns of the interior lie isolated
in a sea of bush through which, periodi-
cally, careens a dusty stage-coach laden
with men in linen "dusters," "four quart"
sombreros and high laced boots. Mer-
chandise and ore travel chiefly by camel
caravan. Through sun-glare tainted witli
the oily smell of tarweed plod these belled
and raucous camels ; for these drought-
defying beasts with their tireless stride
have been found to be i)ractically immune
to heat and flies, as well as uncommonly
able to survive the stifling dust-storms.
They have Afghan drivers and black-
fellow attendants, and take the better part
of a year to make the round trip with wool
and a return load of lumber, canned but-
ter, bacon and other necessities of the
"outback" dweller.

Danger of Getting Lost

Endless, impenetrable, the Australian
"bush," which covers so much of the in-
terior, is worse than jungle or desert from
the standpoint of getting lost. Just as in
places near the sea children are told to
be careful not to get caught by the tide,
so children of the bush are warned never
to wander from the trail. A boy on his
way to school, attracted by a bright in-
sect, may try to catch it. Suddenly he
discovers that he is off the trail and does
not know the way back ; for the bush is
high enough to prevent him from seeing
over it. As soon as his people become
uneasy at his non-appearance, they will
start hunting for him, with groups of

THE ISLAND CONTINENT

neighbors to help ; and these groups keep
signaHng one another lest they too should
get lost. After dark they light torches
to attract one another's attention. Once
a party of children was found too ex-
hausted to move: they had wandered for
four days without food or water. They
said they had seen the torches but had
been afraid these were the signal lights
of blackfellows and so had run away and
hid, instead of showing themselves.

Australia is pre-eminently a sheep
country — ^the greatest in the world. One
would find it interesting to visit a typical
sheep station. Many of the owners or
resident-managers are college-bred ; they
may have costly furnishings in their one-
story ranch houses and as many servants
as a British lord. There are stables full
of saddle and race-horses, there are guns
and fishing-tackle, tennis rackets and golf
bags, and, invariably, an afternoon tea ser-
vice. People often dress for dinner ; it
may be in clothing ordered by mail, but
none the less fashionable. This order of
afifairs exists in part because even the
*'jackaroos" or young men who begin as
ranch hands have often been Englishmen
of good family. The flocks are shep-
herded by men called boundary-riders
whose job it is to ride horseback along
the fences with their blankets and coffee-
pot slung on the saddle behind them, to
see that all is well.

World-famous Sheep Country

The best breeds of sheep, from dainty
Merinos to hardy Border Leicesters, are
found, and the improvement of the stock
is a matter for constant experiment. As
a consequence, it is not unusual to clip
nine pounds of Merino fleece from one
animal. The shearers' union is perhaps
the most important in all that land of
union men. One of its rules is that no
man can be compelled to shear wet sheep,
which are difficult to handle. The shear-
ing is done under contract ; and as warm
weather comes, gangs of shearers pro-
gress from station to station. One will
find men living decently in barracks and
conducting their work almost in the
manner of the barber-shop.

The shearing is all performed with ma-
chine clippers, little knives that move
backward and forward over each other
literally at the rate of two thousand times
a minute. The motive power is supplied
by steam, compressed air or, more often,
electricity. These clippers take the wool
off smoothly and without wounding the
animals, and an expert workman can clip
a hundred sheep a day regularly.

Bullockies or Ox-teams

After the wool is shorn and graded, it
is made up into huge bales ready for the
ox-carts, or more latterly, the tractors and
motor trucks which transport it the hun-
dred miles or so that it may be necessary
to reach the shipping point. The drivers
of the ox-wagons are known as ''bul-
lockies" and can actually handle several
dozen oxen to a team, yoked four abreast
if their load requires it. It is interesting
to meet one of these bullockies hunched
placidly behind his slow-footed oxen in
a cloud of dust, with his rawhide whip
cracking the sun-baked silences.

Where people of other countries dread
timber wolves or tigers, as the case may
be, the sheepmen of the island continent
dread the hordes of rabbits that devour
the grasses of their pasture lands. So
formidable have these pests become that
'Vabbiters" are employed to give their en-
tire time to exterminating the furry
hordes ; and it is on record that the gov-
ernment of New South Wales recently
promised $125,000 to the first man who
would invent a better method for the ex-
termination of the rodents. Poisoning,
naturally, has its dangers to the sheep.
But as one pair of rabbits will breed six
litters a year, each of which may contain
five little ones, and as these in turn begin
to breed at the age of six months, it will
be seen that the situation is a grave one
for the sheepmen whose pastures they
devour.

Rabbits Were not Native

Why, you will ask, have these rabbits
no natural foes to keep down their num-
bers? The reason is that rabbits were
not native to Australia : the continent has

MINES IN WHICH THE WEALTH OF BROKEN HILL IS

Australian Govt.

SOUGHT

The land on which Broken Hill is built is one great treasure-house, for here are found valu-
able metals in abundance — silver, gold, lead, copper and tin. Mining is therefore the town's
chief industry'. Here is the Proprietary Mine, probably the largest silver mine in the world.
Broken Hill is also the centre of a prosperous sheep and cattle-rearing district.

no carnivora except the dingo. The first
ral)bits were introduced for sporting pur-
poses and it seems but poetic justice that
the pastures of the man who brought them
were the first to be devoured. However,
his neighbors' neighbors are still paying
the price of his experiment. Both indi-
vidual ranchers and the states have spent
millions of dollars for rabbit-fences of
wire-netting three feet high, each set four
inches into the ground and topped by a
strand of barbed wire. These fences
criss-cross the land, with gates across the
roads every few miles of the way ; and
the tourist ought to be warned that a
heavy penalty is exacted of anyone who
leaves a gate open. It is said that South
Australia itself has fully enough fences
to girdle the earth. Foxes were at one
time imparted to help exterminate the
rabbits, but the foxes killed so many sheep
that the fences in many places had to be
made higher, with more strands of barbed
wire at the top, to keep the foxes out. And
finally, Louis Pasteur, the scientist, sent
a man to experiment on a neighboring
island with some disease bacillus that

might spread death among the rabbits
without harming the sheep, but the ex-
periment was not successful.

There is one compensation: millions of
dollars' worth of rabbit skins are exported
for the making of women's furs and. in
addition, an average of twenty million
rabbits a year are shipped in a frozen
state to the meat markets of European
countries.

Rabbits, however, are not the only foes
of the sheep. The dingoes or wild dogs
native to the continent kill sheep and often
feast on just their tongues, then pass on
to further killings. Thus the rabbiter also
has these wild dogs to exterminate. For
them he leaves poisoned meat as he goes
his rounds. To add a last straw to the
sheepman's problems, mice and cater-
pillars eat the grass that the sheep ought
to have ; and worse, the cactus known as
the prickly pear takes root in certain places
and overruns the pastures, and its barbs
are so painful that workmen practically
refuse to trim it away. An attempt is
being made to fight this rapacious plant
with a functus from South America.

334

THE ISLAND CONTINENT

Australia is dry enough at best, and
during one of the great droughts which
periodically devastate the forage, sheep
and cattle used to die by the thousands.
During the drought of 1902-03 trees
were cut down for forage : even then, fif-
teen million sheep perished of hunger.
But by the big drought of 1919-20 cer-
tain relief measures were in effect. The
government now maintains stock routes
for driving cattle to where water may be
had, rain is caught in "tanks" — cement-
lined holes that catch the rain-water — and
especially in Victoria and New South
Wales extensive irrigation projects de-
l)endent on local artesian wells are under
way. The Great Artesian Basin, larger
than the state of Texas, which lies perhaps
half a mile deep l^eneath the surface in
Queensland and a part of Northern Ter-
ritory, permits the water to be ditched in
crude j^lowed furrows to the pastures.
Dried grass is also mixed with salt and
preserved in pits ; though labor is so scarce
that fodder is almost never stored in silos.

The entire continent of Australia is

unionized, and was the first country to
have an eight-hour day. The so-called
Three Eights Monument in Melbourne
bears a design that represents what was
the slogan of Australian workmen a gen-
eration ago, "Eight hours' work, eight
hours' play, and eight hours' rest." In
some trades to-day thirty-six hours is con-
sidered a week's work. There is a bonus
"in respect of every child born in Aus-
tralia of white parents'' ; and the Family
Endowment Act of 1927 of New South
Wales insures allowances to families for
the benefit of their children. The Labor
Party is dominant in politics, and wages,
regulated by the government, are high,
while every effort is made to have food
cheap. The state operates half a hundred
butcher shops, a meat-packing plant and
fully two dozen cattle ranches. In addi-
tion, it has a large produce business that
sells direct to the consumer. The govern-
ment also owns and operates a savings
bank and an insurance company, mines
and railroads, dockyards, sawmills and
lumber yards, stone quarries and hydro-

Australian Govt.

STALWART GOLD-MINERS ENCAMPED IN THE DESOLATE BUSH

To-day most of the gold produced in Australia is obtained by great companies and the
work is done by means of machinery. It is still possible, however, in Western Australia,
for independent miners to make a good living by using the primitive methods of their
grandfathers. They usually work in small parties, living in encampments such as this.

335

WELL MOUNTED COWBOYS ROUND UP A FINE HERD OF CATTLE

Although sheep-rearing is the more important industry, cattle-breeding has been so well
developed in Australia that much dairy produce and frozen meat are now exported. The
grasslands of New South Wales and parts of Queensland are the most suitable districts for
stock-rearing, and, as on the western plains of the United States, support huge herds of cattle.

336

Australian Govt.

BACKWOODSMEN LUMBERING IN AN AUSTRALIAN HARDWOOD FOREST

Many valuable timber trees, such as red gum and eucalyptus, grow in the dense forests which
extend over wide areas of Australia. Among the most important is the jarrah, from the
wood of which the blocks that pave London streets and also harbor piles and other objects
to be exposed to the effects of sea-water, are manufactured.

337

THE ISLAND CONTINENT

electric plants ; and in New South Wales
it has its own employees in the telephone
and telegraph services. Nearly one indi-
vidual in twenty accordingly works for
the government.

The states are agreed in desiring to
keep out labor from China, Japan, Malaya
and India; for the national ideal is a
"white Australia." Much as the Com-
monwealth needs a larger population to
man her industries and save her raw ma-
terials from being transported half way
around the globe to be manufactured,
much as she desires more labor for her
mines and plantations, she prefers to wait
for a selected white immigration of Eng-
lish-speaking people and for the growth
of her own population. Thus does she
hope to maintain her present high stand-
ard of wages and living conditions. How-
ever, the Australian labor unions require
that men coming to work on the land
must have had previous agricultural ex-
perience, a condition that debars large
numbers of English workingmen who are
now out of employment.

Schools That Go to the Pupils

Though only half of the population
lives in cities, practically every child in
that great continent can read and write.
Many children of the country districts are
given passes on state-owned railroads that
they may go to school ; where there are as
many as a dozen pupils in one neighbor-
hood, provisional schools are established
for them, and where there are less than
twelve pupils, half-time schools are or-
ganized which are visited by a teacher
every alternate day. Where the districts
are too thinly populated to permit even
of this arrangement, the teachers go from
house to house, set lessons and hear those
previously assigned. During one year
four itinerant teachers of Queensland
traveled 67,000 miles to instruct 1,800 pu-
pils in this manner. New South Wales
even has three traveling schools. The
teacher drives about the country with a
motor vehicle if the roads permit, other-
wise with a wagon ; and when he reaches
some central rallying point, he sets up a
big tent for the classroom and a small tent

for his living quarters, and holds forth
for perhaps a week. Where his pupils are
cut off from even this source of instruc-
tion, he teaches grade subjects by mail.

Two Fine Universities

By way of higher education, there are
high schools, technical schools — of which
Victoria has at least two dozen and which
teach everything from wool-sorting to
dressmaking — there are state agricultural
colleges which send farm experts to the
remotest regions, and a Working Men's
College — open to women as well as men —
which offers certain of its classes in the
evening. Sydney University graduates
are received at Oxford, and the Univer-
sity of ^lelbourne offers degrees of the
same status.

Over half the population of the island
continent lives in cities, and a population
map would show the centres most thickly
populated to be strung along the south-
east and south coast. First there is Bris-
bane, with an outer harbor on Moreton
Bay from which the sand dunes rise to
wooded hills. Along the Brisbane River
the ship docks at packing-plants that
freeze meat for shipment. Back of these
cluster cottages with iron roofs, and
farther along, houses with gardens climb
the slope to the Queensland Parliament
House. One sniffs pleasurably at the
tarry, mellow-sounding wooden paving-
blocks ; one notes the imposing State
Treasury Building and the beautiful
Gothic Cathedral of St. John.

A Wonderful Great Harbor

One enters rock-bottomed Sydney Har-
bor between two outstanding bluffs, to
find a sheltered waterway of four inlets
aglitter against distant mountains. The
big liners usually dock at Circular Quay,
from which radiates an excellent ferry
system. Darling Harbor is lined with
wharves, and there are wharves on the
sea side, on Woolloomooloo Bay — where
Governor Phillip put in, in 1788. Sydney
is the industrial centre and most impor-
tant wool market of Australia, and boasts
some of the largest wool warehouses in
the world. They cover acres. Clouds of

THE ISLAND CONTINENT

white wool and bags are auctioned off
at the Exchange. Wheat, meat and coal
add to the general prosperity, and one is
impressed by the tall wheat elevators.

Glass-roofed Arcades

The yellow sandstone business struc-
tures are of the skyscraper type, though
not especially high. There is a huge
Municipal Market ; there are glass-roofed
arcades ornate with palms that reach from
street to street. There are residence sub-
urbs where the houses all have sleeping-
porches, and any number of parks —
Domain, in the heart of the down-town
district, Moore, Centennial, Taronga,
with its big open-air zoo. The store win-
dows display many goods that were manu-
factured in the United States of America
— farm implements, automobiles, electric
generators, shoes and candy.

Melbourne, on the Bay of Port Phillip,
with Port Melbourne for the docking of
larger vessels, lies along both sides of the
River Yarra, so that ships can come clear
into the wholesale district. The city was
laid out on the checkerboard plan, with
wide streets and fine public buildings, a
museum and an art gallery. There is, as
in Sydney, a huge Town Hall, where oc-
casionally free pipe-organ concerts are
given, and a costly Municipal Market
House with hundreds of stalls. The
apartment houses have electric and other
labor-saving equipment, for there are al-
most no house servants, and there are
parks and playgrounds, the Alexandra
Gardens down town, and the race-courses
at Flemington Lawn where one track is
reserved for steeple-chasing. Here, too,
one finds arcades. The one-time Parlia-
ment House is a colonnaded building with
a statue of Queen Victoria in the ves-
tibule. One can but mention the Treas-
ury, Melbourne University and St. Pat-
rick's Cathedral and the Town-Planning
Association which has garden suburbs
under way. The aborigines traded this
site for forty pairs of blankets and some
other goods, and fortunes were made be-
fore the days of the gold rush by the
auctioning off of town lots.

Canberra, the capital, on a site donated

by New South Wales, is a made-to-order
city laid out in the wilderness according
to a plan drawn up by a Chicago archi-
tect. The illustration shows the relation
of the streets to the government build-
ings. This has been a costly enterprise.
Begun in 191 3, work had to be stopped
during the World War, but was completed
in time for the Prince of Wales to pre-
side at the opening in 1927. This region
was formerly a great sheep station. En-
circled by hills and watered by the River
Molonglo, a branch of the Murrumbidgee,
it has a distant view of the Blue Moun-
tains. The grounds are planted with rare
trees and flowering shrubs.

The Dauntless Anzacs

Perth, on the southern lap of the west
coast of Australia, is a seaside city with
a harbor at Fremantle. The tourist would
enjoy King's Park and the regattas on
Swan River.

The ''Anzacs" of the World War
(Australian and New Zealand Army
Corps) were a tall, sun-bronzed lot of
young men, self-confident and well-nigh
dauntless. The miners and sheepmen
are nothing if not independent, though
friendly to strangers, ever ready to feed
the "sundowner" as they call the tramp
who arrives just in time for supper. The
urban half of the population is generous,
energetic, even to the point of impatience.
Fond of playing hard in playtime, they
go in for such unusual sports as "surf-
ing" on a plank and shooting turkeys from
aeroplanes.

An Air-minded Continent

Australia, by the way, with its clear
air and level ground, is a wonderful
country for aviation. The Civic Aviation
Department is linking the remotest 're-
gions of desert and bush with the cities,
air mail contractors are subsidized by the
government, and fifty thousand dollars
was offered by that same government for
the first England-to-Australia flight. It
will be recalled that Captain C. E. Kings-
ford-Smith, flying in the Southern Cross
in 1928 from England to Australia, made
the longest over-water flight at that time

340

Alitchell

CAMELS AID THE PROSPECTOR IN THE RICH DESERT LANDS

In the sun-baked wilderness of northwest Australia where thirst would kill other pack-
animals, camels brought from Afghanistan are commonly used by miners and prospectors;
for gold is abundant in this sparsely populated region.

FOUR SECTIONS OF TRACK ON THE RAILWAY OVER THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

Running nearly parallel with the coast of New South Wales is the range of the Blue Moun-
tains. Where the railway crosses them an elaborate zigzag track has had to be constructed.
Most Australian railways are owned either by the states or by the Commonwealth.

341

342

343

^ z
i o

S cn

IS
u <
Q
<

!/)

.22 c ©2

!=> U

-^■^ s ^

c« S O ^
+J o ^

0) u C C

I Is i

-III

<u ^ o ^

-4-> CS *-»

c3 ^ <U ^
u o

<1J i3 X XJ

4^ 2 o

o g

> O jnS
0)

cj cj C «

Crt t/3 <U

S o

o "

W O 4> O
^ i-i C (U

HOBART, TASMANIA'S CAPITAL, ON THE DERWENT RIVER

Hobart, about twelve miles inland, possesses a sheltered harbor which even great ocean-
going vessels may enter. With this advantage, the city has developed into an important
commercial centre. A great part of the products of Tasmania — chiefly apples, preserved
fruits, gold and tin — are shipped to the mainland of Australia and to Great Britain.

on record. Likewise, the ten-thousand-
mile radio circuit that connects Australia
with Canada and the United States was
the longest of its kind to be established.
There is wireless direct to Montreal and
London.

The government railways, chiefly state,
total over 25,000 miles, with others under
way. Transcontinental freight is ham-
pered by there having long been eight dif-
ferent gauges. However, so dry is most
of the country that wheat may be shipped
in bags on open flat-cars. It has been a
difficult thing to lay the transcontinentals
from south to north and from east to west ;
for where the rails run through the desert,
there is no water for the men save that
caught in rain-water tanks and none for

the animals that is not brought by train
and camel caravan. As the thermometer
sometimes registers 130 degrees, some of
the cars are built with double roofs to
mitigate the burning sunshine. But the
last link of an east to west line from
Adelaide to Perth was completed in 1927.
There is an inland railroad called the
Turkey Express because the engineer
would always stop the train to shoot his
bird. Victoria has electrified rails in city
areas.

While Australia has religious freedom,
the Church of England outnumbers all
others. Indeed, the birthdays of the King
of England and the Prince of Wales are
celebrated as legal holidays and the P)rit-
ish Crown confers honors on public men.

345

Ewinc; Galloway

A NEW CITY LAID OUT IN THE AUSTRALIAN WILDERNESS

The Federal Territory of Canberra, situated on two hills and a strip of land connecting the
capital city with its port on Jervis Bay, was ceded to the Commonwealth in iqio by New
South Wales. The grounds and buildings were planned by W. B. Griffin of Chicago, with room
for parks and lakes, and streets radiating from the Parliament building.

346

RAILWAY YARDS ALONG FLINDERS STREET, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Melbourne, the capital of Victoria and second largest city in Australia, is a railway and com-
mercial centre as well as port. The port is between two and three miles distant from the
city proper, but ships of moderate size can come up the Yarra River to the heart of the
down-town district and wool, grain, fruit and frozen meat are shipped from here to England.

Publishers Plioto Service

ST. HILDA ROAD, ONE OF MELBOURNE'S TREE-LINED BOULEVARDS

In 1837 the city, founded two years before, was named in honor of Lord Melbourne, British
Prime Minister. It is laid out with wide thoroughfares and numerous parks and public
gardens. Upon the formation of the Commonwealth in iqoi the city became the temporary
seat of the Australian government, and so remained until Canberra was completed in 1927.

347

AUSTRALIA, THE ISLAND CONTINENT

AUSTRALIA: FACTS AND FIGURES

AREA AND POPULATION

Australia, the smallest continent, is bounded
on the north by the Timor Sea, the Arafura
Sea and Torres Strait; on the east by the
Pacific Ocean ; on the south by Baas Strait and
the Southern Ocean ; and on the west by the
Indian Ocean. Area, including Tasmania,
2,974,581 square miles ; population, estimate in
1928, 6,262,720.

GOVERNMENT

The Commonwealth is a British Dominion
and consists of 6 states : New South Wales,
Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, West-
ern Australia and Tasmania, and 2 territories :
Northern Territory and Federal Capital Terri-
tory. Legislative power vested in a Federal
Parliament, consisting of a Governor-General
representing the king, a Senate and House
of Representatives. State Parliaments retain
residuary power of government. Universal
adult suffrage. Executive power exercised by
the Governor-General assisted by an Executive
Council (Cabinet) of 12 members.

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

Pastoral industries and agriculture constitute
chief occupations. 119,341,904 head of live-
stock in 1926. Chief crops : wheat, oats, barley,
corn, hay, potatoes, sugar-cane, sugar-beets and
fruits. "Coal, silver, lead, gold, copper and tin
are mined. Manufactures confined largely to
smelting and heavy metal-work and the prepa-

ration of pastoral products for the market.
Chief exports : wool, wheat, hides and skins,
butter, flour, meats, sugar and lead; chief im-
ports : cotton and linen goods, motor cars,
electrical equipment, petroleum and silk goods.

COMM UNICA TIONS

Railway mileage in 1927, 25,523, government-
owned, in addition to 967 miles of privately-
owned railways. Regular air mail service,
government-subsidized. Telephone and tele-
graph systems, government-owned ; mileage of
telephone wire, 1.714,974; telegraph, 118,141.

RELIGION AND EDUCATION

No established church ; nearly half the popu-
lation members of the Church of England;
many Roman Catholics ; other denominations
represented. Education is a state function,
and is free; primary education compulsory;
enrolment in elementary and secondary schools
for 1925 was 1.101,037. Besides many private
and denominational schools and colleges, tech-
nical and normal schools, each of the 6 states
has a university.

CHIEF TOWNS

Population of the state capitals, 1926 esti-
mate: Sydney (New South Wales), 1,070,510;
Melbourne (Victoria). 944.400; Brisbane
(Queensland), 274.260; Adelaide (South Aus-
tralia), 316.865; Perth (Western Australia).
184,223; and Hobart (Tasmania), 55,130.

348

AUSTRALIA'S MAGIOMAKERS

Primitive Natives in the Island Continent

When you go to Australia you will likely land at Adelaide, Melbourne or
Sydney, and find the life there not very different from that of any other
white man's city. It will be difficult to realize that scattered through vast
tracts in the bush are tribes of savages who practice the most primitive forms
of magic. These natives are less intelligent than most other uncivilized
peoples, but they are held to be the most skillful hunters and trackers in the
world. They were the people who invented the boomerang, a wooden weapon
so made that it travels farther than any similar weapon and then returns to
the thrower, if it misses the mark.

THE English are accustomed to speak-
ing of the Australian aborigines, the
native inhabitants of the continent,
as **blackfelIows" ; but that name is not,
strictly speaking, correct. The people of
the native tribes are a deep copper or dark
chocolate in color. One never meets with
a really black type. The native of West-
ern Australia differs in many respects
from the aborigine of Victoria or New-
South Wales or Queensland. In one tribe
the hair may be straight, in another curly ;
and in yet another there will be an in-
clination to frizziness, such as dis-
tinguishes the Papuan black. There is a
great variation, too, in physique. There
is indeed a vast difference in the matter
of looks. The natives of one district are
brutal, even repulsive in appearance ; in
another part they have fairly well-formed
features. It is possible to make a circle of
five hundred miles on a portion of the
northern coast and find that it encloses
many tribes, all of whom vary in color
and speak different languages. The abo-
rigine found by Captain James Cook when
he annexed Australia for Great Britain
was a man with a low forehead, flat nose,
thick lips and a receding chin tufted with
beard.

This Australian aborigine is a puzzle to
scientists. Two points are clear : he be-
longs to a race entirely different from
neighboring races, and the careful ob-
servance of tribal boundaries hints that
each tribe must have been settled for
many generations in one locality. One
view has it that blackfellows are survivals
of a primitive race which inhabited a vast

Antarctic continent of which Australia,
South Africa and South America once
formed a part. For this theory there is
at least the evidence of the likeness of
many species of birds and fish. A more
plausible theory is that in prehistoric
times a Dravidian people, representatives
of the oldest known races of India, which
form the bulk of the population of south-
ern Hindustan, were driven from their
home in the hills of the Indian Deccan
and made their way south via Ceylon, and
that some of them continued in boats of
bark to the northwestern shores of Aus-
tralia. Whether or not they found a
Papuan race in possession which they
drove south to Tasmania, certain it is that
the Australian blacks of to-day minutely
resemble the Deccan tribes ; they use some
of the same words as those employed by
the Dravidian fishermen, the same type of
canoe and the same unique weapon — the
boomerang.

If, however, the Australian black-
fellows are Dravidians exiled in past ages
from Hindustan, they reached the island
continent in an uncommonly low stage of
civilization and thereafter practically
ceased to evolve save in their extraor-
dinary physical growth. They have ab-
normally thick skulls and correspondingly
small brains. In culture the Australian
native compares most unfavorably with
the colored people of other lands. He
possesses scarcely any of the arts and
crafts of which other savage peoples can
boast. He generally lives in roughly con-
structed bark huts, or *'gunyahs." Of his
inability to count an amusing story is told.

349

FISHING WITH SPEARS IN A RIVER OF NORTHERN QUEENSLAND

The tribesman is a skillful fisher, and has his own peculiar methods of working. Sometimes
he will stand on the bank or in a canoe with a long spear and strike swiftly downward at his
prev with great accuracy and force. Sometimes, armed with a short spear, he swims under
water and kills with this weapon such fish as he meets in his progress.

350

Forbin

NATIVE FLOWER GATHERERS IN A DENSE AUSTRALIAN JUNGLE

Having plucked some fine orchids, three natives stand beneath the screwpines to admire
them. The tropic jungles of the north of Australia are so wild that white men can only
penetrate them with the greatest of difficulty, but the natives are able to find their way about
with ease when in search of flowers, and food in the form of nuts and fruit.

351

GIANTS OF NORTHWEST AUSTRALIA WITH A DANGEROUS FISH

These natives, who are more than seven feet high and ver>' strong, are of a tribe that was
recently discovered by a scientific expedition to the regions round the Cambridge Gulf.
The huge fish that they have caught is a sting ray, which can inflict a very painful wound
by a slash of the long, sharp spine at the end of its tail.

A' native had accompanied his master to
Melbourne and had seen a w^hite man's
city for the first time. "How many
people were there, Jacky?" he was asked.
"T'ousands — millions — me t'ink fifty !"
replied Jacky, rolling his eyes.

It is typical of the low grade of intellect
among the aborigines that very few of the
tribes which live along the coast have
managed to build canoes. The majority
rely upon simple rafts and they know
next to nothing of the principles of
sailing.

As we know, the continent of Australia
is poor in animal life. For food the native
has to be content with lizards, snakes,
frogs, birds and even insects, unless he
can kill a kangaroo or an opossum. There
are few fruits, and he grows no crops. In
his wandering over the sparsely covered
country he is continually hunting for food,
and this has developed in him remarkable

powers of sight and smell, together with
an instinct that is almost uncanny in its
working. The wonderful ability displayed
by a native in tracking is at times beyond
belief. Where the ordinary observer
cannot see anything out of the common,
an aborigine will read a whole page of
facts. A dislodged stone, a turned leaf,
a broken twig, a few grains of sand left
on a patch of rock — all tell him some-
thing about what has passed that way.
From a horse's hoof marks he will tell you
both the size of the animal and the time
that has elapsed since the impressions
were made. By the way a hole has been
dug or a tree notched he will probably
tell you to what tribe the man belongs
who performed the act. A tracker has
even been known to say that the man (a
complete stranger to him) whose trail he
was following was knock-kneed — and he
proved to be right.

352

AUSTRALIA'S MAGIC-MAKERS

This special skill in the reading of a
bush track is partly the result of training
from early childhood. In camp the small
boy learns to play games in which animals
and birds figure. He thus learns their
habits and the appearance of their foot-
prints. When he is older he accompanies
one of the men into the bush and is taught
how to read the many signs of the trail
from sand and stone and rock, from tree
and shrub and leaf. The girls of the tribe
are often not a whit behind the boys in
practicing this art of keen observation.
The ability of the women in following a
trail is as wonderful as that of any man.
Police officers in Australia who have had
much to do with native trackers have re-
lated extraordinary instances of this.

Although the Australian native is primi-
tive in his manner of hfe, he has fol-
lowed the custom of many savage peoples
in building up an elaborate system of rules
for the government of his community. A
tribe will be split into several clans and
totems, each of which is called by a spe-
cial name taken from an animal, bird,
tree or kind of grass. Out of this curious
division has grown a social code which
regulates marriage in particular. Under
its rules a man, say, of the kangaroo to-
tem, is forbidden to marry a girl of the
same order ; he must look for his wife
among the women of the wombat, the rat
or some other totem.

With this particular system there has
grown a strong belief in magic. The abo-

LIGHTING A FIRE BY RUBBING TOGETHER PIECES OF WOOD

To make a fire, the Australian savage takes a strip of soft bean wood with a groove in it.
One end of a stick of hardwood is placed in this groove, and is made to revolve quickly
by being rubbed between the palms of the hand. Dry grass is laid in the groove, and after
the fire-maker has rubbed for about a minute it bursts into fiame.

353

354

356

AUSTRALIA'S MAGIC-MAKERS

riginal is superstitious to a high degree
and Hves in a world which he beheves to
be peopled with evil spirits. Every tribe
therefore has its witch doctor (medicine
man) to whom the native looks for help.
When he is ill it is this sorcerer who pur-
ports to evict by magic the malicious
influence that has brought him low. When
he seeks vengeance on an enemy he plots
with this same sorcerer to bring mis-
fortune, illness or death upon the victim.

One common form of magic is known
as pointing. This is carried out by means
of a sharpened bone or a piece of stick.
After certain rites and spells have been
performed and repeated, the article in
question is taken unseen at night to where
its owner's victim is lying, and is jerked
repeatedly in his direction, while the
spell is again uttered. The evil magic is
believed to go direct into the unfortunate
man's body, and only a medicine-man is
strong enough to counteract its influence.

Other magic ceremonies relate to an
occurrence such as rain-making or to the
finding of food. In the former case rain
is usually represented by water which the
sorcerer squirts from his mouth. When
there is occasion to make food by magic,
a dance may be held wherein the per-
formers dress up in imitation of the
creatures — kangaroos, opossums, emus,
lizards, snakes — or the plants which they
hope will multiply for their benefit.

The dance is always a prominent fea-
ture of the ceremonies. It is part of the
initiation ceremony when youths pass to
the stage of manhood, and it figures in
many superstitious rites.

A *'corroboree," the name given to an
assembly of aboriginals when they are
performing such a ceremony, is a remark-
able affair. It is usually held at night
when there is plenty of moonlight. To
add to the effect, fires are lighted, about
which the dancers perform.

What is important to note is that no
women or children are allowed near the
scene. To warn them that the sacred mys-
teries are about to start, a bull-roarer — a
peculiar instrument constructed of an ob-
long piece of wood whirled rapidly round
at the end of a long string — is sounded.

NATIVE LADY IN SUNDAY CLOTHES

Aborigine women, in spite of their gaudy
finery, usually go barefoot. Here is hung
around the neck, a metal plate on which is
engraved the name of the wearer.

For the purpose of the dance the per-
formers are variously decorated with
bunches of grass and feathers fastened
in the hair and to wrists and ankles. They
are fantastically painted with white clay
and red ochre, and decorated with down

AUSTRALIA'S MAGIC-MAKERS

and feathers, or leaves and flowers. One
man may be marked in white lines to re-
semble a skeleton ; another will have white
snakes painted on his chest and limbs. The
effect of such a host thus ornamented, as
they dance wildly around in the orange
glow of their fires may well be imagined.
To the antics of the dancers must be added
the wailing chant of the singers who ac-
company the performance. At a corrob-
oree the dance is not, as a rule, a repe-
tition of any one previously executed. An
exception to this is the "Molongo," com-
mon to many tribes throughout Australia.
The name Molongo is taken from the
chief character (an evil spirit) and the
dance continues for about five days.

A corroboree is sometimes performed
simply for amusement : in such instances
a dramatic element is provided. One such
dance gives a realistic representation of
a cattle raid. The cattle are, of course,
impersonated by people. These are sur-
prised by the attacking party, some
are "slain" with spears, and their car-
casses are supposed to be cut up. There
now appears on the scene a third party,
intended for white stockmen, who — fit-
tingly from the natives' point of view —
are put to flight.

Hunters Imitate Kangaroos

A hunting corroboree in which the va-
rious performers enact the chase after a
kangaroo or emu is an amusing spectacle
to a white man. Near the coast a canoe
dance may also be witnessed. The per-
formers use sticks to represent paddles
and move rhythmically from side to side
to suggest the movement of a boat gliding
over the water.

These Australian aborigines also dance
just for fun. As dusk shuts down over
a village, a huge pyramidal bonfire is
lighted which throws an orange glow over
the open spaces. Now the young men
adorn their dusky heads with palm fronds
stripped of leaves and fixed in their hair
to resemble horns, and bind palm fronds
around their wrists, legs and ankles. As

the native orchestra beats and thrums a
rhythm, the dancers form a line and clap
their hands or slap chests and thighs at
certain intervals, while they chant in a
minor key. Swaying lithely backward
and forward and facing from side to side,
they move faster and faster until they
become so excited that they give vent to
their emotions in three final blood-curdling
yells.

That strange native weapon and toy,
the boomerang, is of many varieties. The
return boomerang is actually a toy, and,
if used for any practical purpose, is em-
ployed only in the killing of birds.

Warriors Throw Boomerangs

But the war boomerang, thrown from
under a shield while the assailant is stoop-
ing, can be projected as far as two
hundred yards. Others are used in hunt-
ing, and it is remarkable with what dex-
terity they can be hurled. Apart from
this ingeniously made contrivance, the na-
tive has shown no cleverness in devising
weapons. His spears, clubs and throwing
sticks are of the crudest form, with heads
of stone, wood or bone.

As a people who are debased the Aus-
tralian aborigines are destined to die out
before the advancing tide of civilization.
As it is, their numbers have dwindled
from the forty thousand of a generation
ago to about seventeen thousand. The
finest specimens, physically, are undoubt-
edly those of the newly opened Northern
Territory, where they rank as among the
wildest of the race ; but the Aruntas, liv-
ing near the centre of the continent, are
better developed than many of their
neighbors.

Aborigines Nearly Extinct

Each state of Australia has its Abo-
rigines Protection Board, so that govern-
ment care is exercised over the remnants
of the tribes and Mission stations with
native schools which have been built. It
cannot be many generations, however, be-
fore the aborigine becomes extinct.

358

New Zealand in the South Seas

Dominion of a People Who Call England Home

The Dutch navigator Abel Janszen Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642.
The Polynesian Maoris had previously discovered North Island, which, with
its white cliffs, they called Long Bright World ( Ao-tea-roa) . When Captain
James Cook had ventured this far in the Endeavor, he spent six months here.
The missionary, Samuel Marsden, landed in 1814, Great Britain annexed the
islands in 1840 and twelve years later granted self-government to New
Zealand. The map, which resembles a thousand-mile boot with its toe pointed
tovv^ard Australia, and a piece gone from the ankle, shows the large North and
South islands, the smaller Stewart Island, together with others not so large.

WHEN your ship has sailed about
twelve hundred miles southeast
of Australia, you will spy what
looks like a long white cloud on the hori-
zon. It is in reality the two large islands
of New Zealand ; and as you approach,
you will find that they are mountainous
and clad with forests. They are the abode
of the remnant of a really superior brown
race, the Maoris, who are dealt with in
another chapter, and of a white popu-
lation that is 90 per cent British.

The earliest explorers were the Maoris,
about whom we tell elsewhere. Tasman
discovered New Zealand in 1642, Captain
Cook began exploring the coast in 1769
and Rev. Samuel INIarsden established a
mission in the Bay Islands in 1814. The
first immigrants came in 1841 and settled
at Port Nicholson, at which time the
native chiefs ceded the islands to the Brit-
ish Crown — though about half of the
Maoris later twice revolted. The present
form of self-government dates from 1852,
and in 1907 the Colony achieved Do-
minion status. New Zealand played a
generous part in the World War, and
now holds mandate over certain islands
— ^the Western Samoans, and with Great
Britain and Australia, the formerly
German Nauru. Since 1923 the Gov-
ernor-General of New Zealand has ad-
ministered the Ross Sea area in the
Antarctic ; and in 1926 the Dominion took
over the administration of the Tokelau
or Union group of Pacific islands.

The first impression of the visiting
tourist will be that of the singular beauty
of the rugged coastline. The winding
arms of the sea reach like tidal rivers

into the green land between high tower-
ing clifTs. So deep are the harbors that
the largest ocean liners can anchor
close to shore. The rivers are deep and
swift and have carved deep beds for
themselves out of the rocky bases of the
mountains, making gorges of wild beauty.
The Waikoto River, on North Island, is
two hundred and twenty miles in length
and the Clutha, on South Island, two hun-
dred. The mountain backbone of South
Island has been fittingly named the
Southern Alps. Here the forests reach
nearly to the snow line, mountaineering is
popular, and Mount Cook (Aorangi),
the "Sky Piercer," towers to over twelve
thousand feet above the level of the sea.
Though the climate in the north is nearly
tropical, the heat is tempered by ocean
breezes and by the banks of white cloud
that gather every afternoon. At Auck-
land the hot month, January, ranges from
58.9 degrees to 73.7, and July, the cold
month, from 57.6 degrees to 46.

North Island contains one of the most
amazing sights in all New Zealand — a
weird region known as the thermal dis-
trict. A strip of tableland a hundred and
fifty miles long by twenty wide, the
mineral-hued ground, in places hot and
crumbling beneath the feet, steams and
trembles, here dotted with boiling springs,
there with pools of hot mud. It is pos-
sible to spend weeks exploring this hob-
goblin region, watching the geysers
which periodically — with weird shrieks
and whistlings — shoot columns of steam-
ing water into the air. Curiously enough,
ferns and flowers grow unharmed close
beside the sulphurous vapors. At Ro-

359

Nmrrn

P a a i f

TJEW ZEALAND

AND DEPENDENCIES

Equatorial Scale

TenrTiyril .
i ^^"O^^' Mariahikil

Nine(Savc^e) ^Mtnierstarv

Tropic of

178

174

178

NEW ZEALAND'S CHAIN OF ISLANDS AND ATTENDANT ARCHIPELAGO

torua, the one town of the thermal dis- The stupendous geyser of Waimangu
trict, the government has erected splendid was created in 1900 in one abrupt ex-
bath-houses ; and the natives who live plosion of black mud and rock, fol-
there may be seen placing the fish or other lowed by a deafening hiss of white steam,
food to be cooked in a net and lowering Mount Tarawera erupted in 1886, de-
it into a hot pool. stroying many villages ; but out of eighteen

360

Bush by

SNOW-CLAD PEAKS AND GREEN PALMS BESIDE STILL WATERS

Much of the scenery in both North and South Island is romantic in the extreme. Nowhere
is there any lack of rain, and on South Island we may stand in a grove of palms and see the
peaks of the Southern Alps, some of which are clad in eternal snow. On the south coast
of South Island there are also wonderful fjords that rival in beauty those of Norway.

361

E. N. A.

ONE OF THE GEYSERS AT WHAKAREWAREWA IN NORTH ISLAND

Whakarewarewa is a scene of volcanic activity near Lake Rotomahana. There are many
geysers here, and some of them eject huge columns of water at fixed intervals with the
regularity of clockwork. The wonderful Waimgangu geyser, which also is near Lake Roto-
mahana, discharges a column of water and mud more than a thousand feet high.

hundred cf)nsccutive earth(iuakc shocks
that have lDeen recorded, only this and
one other have caused more disturb-
ance than to jiggle the furniture. The
geysers in Wairakei Valley are visited by
countless tourists. One may not, how-
ever, come too near the Ngauruhoe vol-
cano of Tongariro National Park, the
cone of v^hich discharges fumes of sul-
phuric acid through three craters. Nor
may one approach the bed of hot sulphur
called White Island, tv^enty-seven miles
off the coast of North Island in the Bay
of Plenty.

Though the New Zealand State Forest
Service maintains her millions of acres of
valuable forests by replanting and other
methods, the less valued areas are cleared
for pasturage. In clearing such tracts,
the big trees are first killed by ring-
barking ; that is, a complete circle is cut
through both outer and inner bark so that
the sap is unable to rise. The smaller
trees and bushes are cut down and burned,
after which the ashes serve as a dressing
for the grass that is sown.

We ought to mention that the Kauri
gum used in the manufacture of varnish,
one of the valuable products of the New

Zealand forests, is the fossilized resin of
pines of i)rehistoric ages.

The first gold discovered, that which
precipitated the wild gold rush of the six-
ties, was found in the alluvial deposits of
the coast province of Westland. That
first field is now practically exhausted and
most of the gold mined to-day comes from
the quartz mines of the northern province
of Auckland.

However, New Zealand's coal is worth
almost three times as much as her gold.
Westland has scams of the finest grade.
At Greymouth, on the Westland Bight,
the state-owned mines produce coal which,
by being sold at a comi)aratively low
price, keeps down the price of all coal
mined on the islands. To complete the
list, a little north of the coal mines is a
solid mountain of iron ore which prom-
ises important developments. Tungsten
ore was mined here during the World
War.

It is none the less true that the most
important sources of wealth are agri-
culture and stock-breeding. Because of
the varieties of soil and climate, there is
nearly every kind of fruit and vegetable,
from oranges to wheat. The Dominion

362

lUishby

STEAM ISSUING FROM THE DRAGON'S MOUTH, NORTH ISLAND

The Dragon's Mouth is one of the many volcanic fumaroles in the thermal region of North
Island. This region was a Maori stronghold long before New Zealand was colonized by
white men, and the Maoris still use the hot springs for cooking and bathing purposes, as
they and their ancestors have been doing for centuries.

363

364

365

New Zealand Govt.

MONSTER KAURI PINE CRASHING TO THE GROUND

Kauri pines are the finest of the pine family. They are peculiar to New Zealand, and often
grow to a height of one hundred feet, while certain trees have been known to measure thirty-
five feet around the trunk. It takes about three hundred years for a Kauri to attain a
diameter of five feet, and large specimens are really ancient.

367

C E. N. A,

ROAD THROUGH THE DAN O'CONNELL RANGE IN SOUTH ISLAND

Not far from Queenstown, cn Lake Wakatipu. this road has been cut along the side of a
precipitous mountain. From this highway travelers can look down upon the valley hundreds
of feet below. South Island is the most mountainous portion of New Zealand and railway
and road construction is both dithcult and expensive there.

368

New Zealand Govt.

YOUNG SHEPHERDS URGING THEIR FLOCK ACROSS A STREAM

Children in New Zealand become self-reliant at an early age, and in the country it is nothing
to see a flock of sheep being herded along a track by a mere boy. The young shepherd in
the foreground is riding with bare legs and his feet scarcely reach the stirrups; but he could
probably ride a horse bareback almost as soon as he could walk.

369

NEW ZEALAND IN THE SOUTH SEAS

is one of the chief sources of supply of
foodstuffs for Great Britain. Butter,
cheese and frozen meat fill the holds of
the cargo boats bound for the mother
country. From the earliest days the set-
tlers have been interested in the breeding
of sheep and cattle and sheep-breeding has
grown to be a great industry in New
Zealand. Indeed, New Zealand is im-
portant in the world's commerce for her
sheep and wool, beef, pork and dairy
products. Oysters are exported and
whale-fishing has not entirely declined.
Her manufacturing consists of the prep-
aration of meat and dairy produce for
export in the refrigerator ships that carry
it to England, Australia and the United
States.

As for cattle, most of them are to be
found on North Island, though on Can-
terbury Plain, South Island, is a huge

grazing-ground. Here we may see dip-
ping and shearing, the weighing and cord-
ing of the thick fleeces and the cold stor-
age system of transport. The farmers
co-operate to maintain a steady price for
their goods, and modern agricultural im-
plements do much of the work. The cows
on many farms are milked by machinery.
Some of the cowsheds are even lined with
white tiles like a bathroom.

North and South islands are connected
by ferry steamers. Christchurch, a little
way down the west coast of South Island,
is the chief manufacturing town and, in-
deed, one of New Zealand's four largest
cities. Like the others, it has motor buses
and motor highways, parks and fine public
buildings.

Dunedin, farther south along the east
coast, was first settled by the Scotch. But
to return to Cook Strait and across to

Bushby

SETTLER'S HOME IN AN UNDEVELOPED PART OF AUSTRALIA

At first the settler erects a neat wooden bungalow of two or three rooms, with a corrugated
iron roof. As he clears more land and his crops become larger, he may provide himself with
a larger dwelling. Although the population of New Zealand is widely scattered, nearly all
of the settlers have neighbors within a few hours' horseback ride.

370

GOLD-DREDGE IN OPERATION NEAR HOKITIKA IN SOUTH ISLAND

Gold was discovered on the west coast of South Island in 1864, and the district of West-
land, in which Hokitika is situated, is one of the most important gold-mining areas in
the island. The dredge is operated by electricity, the power being generated at Lake
Kanieri. The largest mine of the Dominion is at Waiki, North Island.

North Island, we find that Wellington,
the capital city, is connected with Christ-
church by fast turl)ine steamers. At Wel-
lington on the edge of a splendid land-
locked harbor, ocean liners can come
within half a block of the main business
quarter. The residence district clings to
the hills that rise steeply behind the city,
and it is a commonplace for a house to
have windows that look across a neigh-
bor's roof.

Auckland, in the north, a red-roofed
city ])uilt in the midst of greenery that
lasts the year around, has a deep harbor
busy with ocean-going steamers and gay
with yachts and sailboats. And though
many New Zealanders have never set foot
on the British Isles, the ships which sail
for England are known as the "home
boats."

Outside the cities, the settlers' home is
likely, at first, to be a three-room frame
cottage with a corrugated iron roof — hot
in summer but proof against the sparks
of the dread forest fires, and pleasantly
musical during a rain storm. This dwell-
ing is usually built in some clearing of
the forest, perhaps miles from the
nearest neighbor.

With its small, homogeneous popula-
tion, New Zealand is pre-eminently a
workingman's country. The state owns
the railways, the postal, telegraph and tele-
phone systems, has a controlling interest

in the Bank of New Zealand and in the
national provident fund, besides which it
carries out life, accident and fire insur-
ance. It has also reserved the develop-
ment of its water power.

After the World War, government
loans were made to all those who
wished to buy farm lands, to build houses
or to start as farmers ; old-age pensions
are compulsory ; and co-operative market-
ing is practiced by meat and dairy pro-
ducers. The most promising young
])eople are awarded national scholarships
for work at New Zealand University.
The sheep-owners of the Dominion, who
became wealthy during the World War,
maintain a fund for the training of or-
phans of the sailors of the World War
and the government provides their pas-
sage from England.

A special arrangement also exists by
which British schoolboys between seven-
teen and nineteen years of age may come
in groups to be taught farming. The New
Zealand child endowment act of 1926
provides for the granting of allowances
toward the maintenance of children
whose parents have inadequate incomes.

Whereas under the original colonizing
corporation, The New Zealand Company,
vast tracts were held by a few big sheep-
men or by English syndicates and oper-
ated by tenant farmers, the government
has latterly been cutting these areas into

371

h! ^ C -I

c« O O

, , O t/2 .

- ^ <U

•S ^ ^ o

PLh 3 g C

9 ^ ^

(L>

S <L) >^

"T^ "Tl I— I

CW O

I P ^ g

X .£f '5

— cj OJ cyQ
5 c o
vr ®

373

NEW ZEALAND IN THE SOUTH SEAS

small farms for resident owners. The
government has also selected over seventy
sites for hydro-electric projects.

Under the Empire Settlement Act, fully
twelve thousand assisted immigrants re-
cently came into the country in the course
of one year. But however greatly New
Zealand needs immigrants of the sort she
desires for citizens, she takes an uncom-
promising attitude toward the exclusion
of immigration from Asia. She has cre-
ated a department of external affairs to
deal, not alone with the immigration prob-
lem, but with external questions, such as

her administration of the Cook Islands.
Her territorial jurisdiction, which includes
western Samoa, now extends from near
the equator, at Nauru, to the South Pole ;
for in 1923 her territorial jurisdiction was
extended to include the Ross Dependency
— composed of the Ross and Victoria
quadrants of the Antarctic continent im-
mediately south of New Zealand, a region
that is described in another volume. With
Australia, New Zealand has in Nauru rich
deposits of the phosphates so essential to
her agricultural productiveness. Other-
wise Nauru is of little consequence.

NEW ZEALAND: FACTS AND FIGURES

THE COUNTRY

A group of islands lying in the South
Pacific about 1,200 miles east of Australia.
The principal islands, North Island and South
Island, are separated by Cook Strait, and to-
gether with Stewart Island, form a broken
chain. The total area, including Chatham
Island (east of Cook Strait) and small out-
lying islands, is 103,568 square miles ; popula-
tion, excluding the natives and that of the
smaller outlying islands, 1,344,469 in 1926.

GOFERNMENT

British colonial dominion ; legislative power
vested in a Governor-General and a General
Assembly of two Chambers — Legislative
Council (members appointed) and House of
Representatives (members elected) ; advisory
cabinet. Represented in England by High
Commissioner. Universal adult suffrage.
Country is divided into counties and boroughs
for purposes of local government.

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES

Stock-raising, dairying and agriculture are
the principal occupations. In 1928 there were
31,558,485 head of livestock. Crops grown for
local consumption are : wheat, oats, barley,
forage crops and potatoes. Gold, silver and
coal are mined. Chief industries confined to
preparation of pastoral and dairy products for
market such as meat-freezing and preserving,
butter and cheese-making. In 1926 New Zea-
land was fourth in furnishing wool for world
trade and fifth in supplying beef and beef
products. Chief exports are wool, butter, pre-
served milk and cream, cheese, skins and pelts,
agricultural products, phormium tenax, gold
and timber. Chief imports : wearing apparel,
metal manufactures, motor cars, oils, iron and
steel, books and paper, tobacco and chemicals.

COMMUNICATIONS

Railway mileage in TO28 for North and
South islands, 3,297, largely government-
owned; chief towns provided with street car
systems; telephone and telegraph systems

operated by government; length of telephone
wire in 1927, 475,649 miles; telegraph wire,
26,336 miles.

RELIGION AND EDUCATION

No state aid to any form of religion ; many
denominations represented. Education free and
compulsory between ages of 7 and 14. In 1927
there were 223,388 pupils in public primary
schools and 2:^,336 pupils in public secondary
schools ; 345 registered private schools, in-
dustrial schools, normal schools, technical and
special schools. Schools for the Maoris and
native village schools. University of New
Zealand has 4 constituent colleges, located at
Dunedin, Christchurch, Auckland and Wel-
lington.

CHIEF TOWNS

Estimated population, in 1928 : Wellington
(capital), 130,120; Auckland, 206,810; Christ-
church, 123,370 ; Dunedin, 84,060 ; Wanganui,
27,510; Invercargill. 22,910; Palmerstown
North, 20,940.

ISLANDS

Chatham Islands (536 miles east of New
Zealand) have an area of 375 square miles;
sheep farming is carried on. A depot for
shipwrecked sailors is maintained in the un-
inhabited Auckland Islands (200 miles south
of Stewart Island). Kermadec Islands (600
miles N.N.E. of New Zealand) are unin-
habited. Other small uninhabited outlying
islands within the boundaries of New Zealand
are : Campbell Island, the Three Kings
Islands, the Antipodes Islands, the Bounty
Islands and the Snares Islands. Ross De-
pendency, consisting of the coasts of the Ross
Sea with the adjacent islands and territories,
is under the jurisdiction of the Governor-
General of New Zealand.

New Zealand holds a mandate for the
former German islands of Western Samoa,
and administers the Cook Islands and Union
Islands in Oceania. (For Facts and Figures
see page 321.)

374

Life Among the Maoris

New Zealand's Splendid Warrior Race

Of all the primitive peoples whose lands have come to be dominated by mem-
bers of the white race, the natives of New Zealand are perhaps the finest and
the most intelligent. Assuredly they come nearer to being accepted by their
white neighbors on a basis of social and political equality. Another chapter
deals with the New Zealanders who call England "home." This one treats of
the Maoris, who are rapidly assimilating British culture and who, though once
they fought the coming of the white colonists, freely gave their services during
the World War to the British Empire.

THOUSANDS of years ago in the
South Seas there was a hero named
Maui. We do not know from what
island he came, but he put out to sea with
his brothers and cast his line into deep
waters. His fish-hook was an enchanted
one, for it was made from the jawbone
of a famous ancestor. Now when Alaui
dropped his hook overboard, it caught in
the house of Ton-
ganui, who was the
grandson of Ton-
garoa, the fish-god.
Only a great hero
like Maui could pull
up such a catch. His
brothers were fright-
ened at the huge
waves which were
thus created, but
Maui was not to be
dissuaded from his
purpose. He pulled
and pulled, and even-
tually hauled up not
only Tonganui's
house but the land
on which it stood.
This land — at first
called the Fish of
Maui — was the coun-
try we now know as
the dominion of New
Zealand. That is the
curious story which
the Maoris have had
handed down to them
by their forefathers
to explain their ori-
gin a long time ago.

E. N. A.

OLD-FASHIONED TATTOO MARKING

Now fallen into disfavor, tattoo ornamentation
was once a popular adornment among Maori
Indeed, tattooing was considered one of
the Maori fine arts.

375

men.

The great Maui is their national hero.
He was a chief and a magician. It was
he, they say, who snared the sun with a
rope of flax, and, by preventing it from
traveling too fast, lengthened out the
days. It was he who, to punish his quar-
relsome kindred, put his hand out before
the moon and so at times caused dark-
ness to come over the face of the earth.

The legends about
Maui are numerous.
The oldest ones ex-
plain how the hero
came from Hawaiki
with nine canoes, the
names of which are
still preserved as tri-
bal names. Just
where Hawaiki was
located we cannot
say ; but learned men
believe it to have
been an island near
Samoa. It is clear,
however, that the
Maoris are closely
related to the Poly-
nesian race who in-
habit Samoa, Tahiti
and other islands
of the South Seas.
They are similarly
brown-skinned, and
there is a great re-
semblance between
their languages.
They have also the
same custom of
"tapu," the law of
prohibition, which

American Museum of Natural History

YOUNG MAORI WARRIOR AND HIS GREAT WOODEN SPEAR

Fighting between the colonizers of New Zealand and the Maoris did not cease until 1871.
In these wars the Maoris proved themselves to be brave and skillful fighters, even when they
were opposed by regular troops. All able-bodied men were soldiers, and their arms consisted
chiefly of old muskets, tomahawks, clubs and wooden spears.

376

TWO MAORI GIRLS ENVELOPED IN THEIR ROBES OF FLAX

Originally the Maoris wore very little clothing, the women wearing a sort of kilt. But
they are clever at weaving enormous blankets, such as these you see in the picture.
Smaller kinds are made to be worn on the shoulders or around the waist. The feathers
of the kiwi — a wingless bird — are sometimes used as ornaments.

has been explained in the chapter on Sun-
shine Isles and Savages. There v^as no
written language among the Maoris until
early in the last century.

Of these early inhabitants of New Zea-
land we have the first accounts from Cap-
tain James Cook. Both France and Spain
claim that some of their sea-captains ac-
tually discovered the islands, and in 1642
Abel Tasman, the Dutch voyager, reached
the land, but sailed away because the na-
tives proved hostile. It was Captain Cook,
however, who, in 1769, at least re-dis-
covered New Zealand and brought home
a full description of the Maoris.

He told of their inclination to can-

nibalism. In the Polynesian Islands, as
we have seen, this practice was common.
The general belief was that, by eating a
notable enemy, certain of his qualities,
such as courage and cunning, were ac-
quired by the conqueror. Many scien-
tists, however, hold the view that the
custom was merely followed as a method
of casting disgrace upon the slain man and
his people. Whatever may have been the
reasons, it is certain that the New Zea-
land natives, like many other savage races,
were at one time addicted to cannibalism.
The coming of the "pakeha/' as they call
the white man, into their country, espe-
cially the influence of the missionaries,

377

LIFE AMONG THE MAORIS

gradually forced them to give up the
practice.

Following the custom of the Polyne-
sians, the Maoris freely tattooed them-
selves. In Tahiti, the Marquesas Islands
and elsewhere in the South Seas, tattoo-
ing was done but lightly, a mere surface
pricking. In New Zealand the natives
who imderwent the ordeal of "moko,"
as it was termed, did the thing more
thoroughly. The designs on face and
body were actually chiseled into the flesh,
for the instruments used were made of
stone, the bones of birds or the teeth of
sharks. With the natives, tattooing was

a mark of identification as well as an or-
nament, and there are instances on record
in which a chief, unable to write, has
drawn his personal moko as a signature
to a document. As a practice, tattooing
is dying out. On the faces of only older
men nowadays is tattooing to be seen;
among the young Maoris, who wish to
copy the white man's ways, it has become
unpopular. The women of the tribes,
however, have been more reluctant to give
it up. They still decorate themselves on
the lips and chin.

In regarding the Maori as a kinsman
of other South Sea peoples, we must note

Topical

OLD MAORI WOMAN ENGAGED IN MAKING A MAT OF FLAX

Here we have an aged Maori dressed in European dress, and on page 377 are two girls in
their native costume, which is more suitable and becoming. New Zealand flax is a very
useful plant to the Maoris, who make mats and carpets as well as clothing of it. The
marks on the woman's chin are tattooing.

378

PERFORMING THE POI DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF AN ACCORDION

One of the oldest dances of the Maoris is the poi, which we should hardly call a dance at all,
as, instead of moving about and executing various steps, the performers sit or stand in a
row, keeping their places throughout the dance. They turn from side to side and twirl
between the fingers balls of dried raupo leaves, which they knock together,

379

LIFE AMONG THE MAORIS

AiuLi ican Museum of Natural History

MAORI READY FOR WAR

A tattooed brave strikes a ferocious atti-
tude and imagines that his grimace will
terrify the enemy.

his fondness for dancing. In weaviiig
and carving he was far in advance of
other tribes, and he has shown the same
progress in the matter of the dance. This
form of recreation is not simply a way of
amusing himself or a means of working
the young warriors up to a pitch of ex-
citement. The dances are ceremonial,
illustrating, as a rule, an actual story.
Often they are a record of events in Maori
history.

A popular dance is that of the canoes.
A number of girls — perhaps thirty or
forty of them — take part. Some are seated

to represent the paddlers ; others, stand-
ing behind them, sway their bodies with
the motion of waves rising and falling.
In addition to the regular movements of
the actors there is the effect given by the
flax dancing skirts worn by the girls. The
sound of these is somewhat like the swish
of water against the sides of a canoe. The
girls carry what are called ''poiballs" in
their hands. These are small balls of
raupo leaves attached to a flax cord.
When they are struck one against the
other the spectator can readily imagine
that he hears the paddle-strokes.

The native who has adopted civilized
conditions wears the ordinary dress of
the white man. The one who clings to
the dress of his ancestors is content with
little clothing. He usually appears in a
fringed garment with a larger cloak reach-
ing from shoulder to knee. The most
elaborate and costly article of dress is the
feather cape or cloak. It was in this that
the native weaver excelled, for this was
a work which called for great skill.
Feathers from the kiwi and other birds
were woven in, or sometimes fastened to
the threads by means of the gum of the
flax, one rov/ of feathers overlapped
another. The result was most effective.

Just as, with the decline in population,
weaving is becoming a thing of the past,
so is the art of woodcarving. Old Alaori
carvings display considerable artistic skill
and taste. There is no doubt that the
native New Zealanders were extraor-
dinarily skillful in this direction. The
carving of pillars in houses, the deco-
ration of temples, of "patakas" or tribal
store-houses and of boxes wherein were
kept cloaks and other garments was elab-
orately done. Such carving was fre-
quently the work of more than one gen-
eration. It was carried on by a son who
had been taught the art by his father, and
who gave years of patient labor to the
task.

The Maori, it must be remembered, be-
longs to a warrior race. In recent times
there were the Maori wars of 1861 to
1 87 1, when the natives felt that they were
unjustly treated in the matter of their
lands and rose in arms. In the olden

LIFE AMONG THE MAORIS

days the Maori made himself feared in
his terrible war canoe. These boats were
often eighty feet in length. They were
built of kauri pine, the stately tree which
is New Zealand's pride.

A Maori war canoe was a handsome
craft, for here the art of carving was dis-
played at its best. The boat, from stem
to stern, was ornamented with designs.
The prevailing color was red, the sacred
hue, and, with a plentiful inlaying of shells
and feathers, the general effect was strik-
ing. A carving of a human figure was at
the prow, while other similar figures might
be placed at intervals along the sides and
at the stern. Feathers were favorite or-
naments. These were tied together in
bunches, and floated airily in the wind as
the craft was driven through the water by
the paddlers.

The majority of the Maoris are now
converts to Christianity, but many still

retain the old belief in spirits and enchant-
ment, in tapu and the meaning of dreams.
Just as the mythical Maui has figured in
their folklore as the hero of marvelous
deeds, so various spirits were invented by
them to account for the creation of the
earth, the sky, the sun, moon and other
natural wonders. It was even the spirits,
they said, who taught them how to make
fish nets of flax leaves.

In their games, Maori boys and girls
find much the same recreation as do their
white neighbors. They play the string
game of cat's cradle, they fly kites, skip
and play with tops and hoops. They knew
the game of draughts before the pakeha
came into their midst. In one of their
games the players sit in a group and pro-
ceed to make the most horrible grimaces
they can invent. At the same time they
writhe and squirm with their bodies and
give vent to deep groans. He who suc-

La Voy

COUNTRY DANCE PERFORMED TO THE CLAPPING OF HANDS

Lines of Maori girls and women are beating time with their hands while they dance. Their
rustling flax dresses are in accordance with the gala spirit, and show, in their bold, well-
arranged patterns, the artistic skill that the Maoris have attained. Some of the dancers
are wearing elaborately worked head-bands to confine their hair.

381

(T) L'nderwood &: L^nderwood

PUBLIC BATH FED BY HOT SPRINGS IN A MAORI VILLAGE

In the hot springs district of North Island of New Zealand the children have no excuse
for dirtiness, since they can have hot baths all the year around in the open air. Certain
pools are used for washing clothes and others for cooking. Some, filled with hot mud, have
long been held to have a curative effect in certain diseases.

ceeds in making the ugliest face becomes
the winner. With games like this, the
telling of stories and the asking of rid-
dles, both young and old pass many hours
of leisure.

The native name for a Maori house is
'Vhare," and originally a tribe would
have one or more large wooden houses
for communal use and for the accom-
modation of. guests. There were sepa-
rate sleeping whares in which the fur-

niture consisted of reed mats and couches
made of grass and fern. A Maori vil-
lage, such as was found by the first white
voyagers to New Zealand, was protected
by stockades and was known as a "pah."
It was built upon a hill to give greater
security from enemies, and usually had
high watch-towers from which the vil-
lagers could survey the surrounding
countryside, and in which they could offer
a strong defense. To-day the Maori pah

382

LIFE AMONG THE MAORIS

is to be encountered only in the low-lying
districts, such as the region of the hot
springs in North Island, where geysers
and boiling water are found. The springs
of Lake Rotorua are among the best
known. Near by are the villages of
Ohinemotu and Whakarewarewa.

At one time the Maoris lived on the
flesh of the moa, a giant bird long since
extinct, and on dogs, fish, and such vege-
tables as the sweet potato and the taro.
They even ate human flesh. Fortunately,
they have long since lost their cannibal
appetites, and now have a diet not very
different from that of white New Zea-
landers.

The glory of the Maoris is the glory of
the past. Once a powerful, warlike race,
hundreds of thousands strong, they have
now dwindled in numbers to about fifty

thousand. The spread of consumption
and other diseases has helped materially
to reduce the population. That they are
a race superior to most other South Sea
peoples is shown by their readiness to
adapt themselves to the white man's civi-
lization. There are, in New Zealand, 124
native village schools, with over six thou-
sand pupils, as well as eleven second-
ary schools for Maoris, having nearly five
hundred pupils. Educated Maoris hold
many public positions in their country.
They are even elected to the legislative
assembly. Since the census of 1896, their
numbers have been slowly on the increase,
and there is reason to hope that this fine
people will not sufifer the extinction that
has been the fate of some other native
races, who have come in contact with the
civilization of the white man.

MAORI HOUSEWIFE MAKES USE OF A NATURAL WASH-TUB

The Maori washerwoman need not worry over hot water, since she has an unfailing supply
from the earth. All around her steam is rising from the boiling springs and cracks in the
ground; and if she does not immediately find water of a suitable temperature she has
only to try another of the many pools of varying degrees of warmth.

383

VENERABLE CHIEF WHO PROUDLY BEARS INSIGNIA OF RANK

The greenstone club, polished and sharpened, is the sceptre of the Maori chief. He stands
beside a pillar carved with two grotesque faces. One figure grasps a club similar to the one
held by the chief. Note the likeness of these posts to the totem poles of the Indians of the

northwest coast of North America.

384

PRINTED TN THE U. S. A.

Date Due

NOV 3 1!

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Texts

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "Lands and peoples : the world in color"

See other formats